Prehistoric Park: Reborn
by Crimson Clockwork
Summary: An alternate Prehistoric Park. The characters are all-new and the creatures are more amazing than ever. What secrets will the team find in the past? And what challenges will they face? This is Prehistoric Park...like you've never seen it before. This time, Michael travels back 25 million years in order to rescue the largest rhino that ever walked the face of the earth.
1. Welcome to the Jungle

_Hello, good day, and welcome to Prehistoric Park: Reborn. This series is, as Nigel might say, "a fanfiction with a difference." It's still Prehistoric Park in a recognizable form, but an alternate one. The park structure and aesthetic is familiar, but all the characters are entirely new, and the park is starting with a clean slate and no animals (yet). I guess you could describe it as a "remake" but I don't like the term._

_It also puts a new spin on the standard disclaimer: no, I do not own the concept of Prehistoric Park, but I do actually own the characters in this particular fanfiction. But if you see the need, feel free to use them. This is just a fun bit of writing :D_

_For the first episode, I had the challenge of creating a new beginning for the park. I still wanted to have the suitably epic feel of the actual first episode, but I also wanted to make it fresh and different. So here is the result. _

_Welcome to Prehistoric Park like you've never seen it before…_

* * *

**We live in a very strange world. Over ninety-nine percent of the species that ever lived on our planet are now extinct. But what if we could save them? What if we could bring them back to our own world?**

**Join biologist Michael Emerson as he travels back in time to meet animals that have never existed for millions of years. He will save them from extinction and take them into the present day to give them a second chance.**

**For his first adventure, Michael travels back 70 million years ago to rescue the dinosaurs that changed the way we look at these terrible lizards.**

**Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome…to Prehistoric Park!**

The olive-colored creature sat on a branch and blinked as a finger stroked the top of its head. The animal had a look of intelligence about it, and definitely seemed to enjoy the attention. Others of its kind perched on branches around it.

"Solomon Island skinks," Michael Emerson said, petting the lizard. "They're wonderful creatures to have around. The way they behave, it's as if they're trying to be reptilian koalas." He laughed. "But I'm distracting myself again."

Michael closed the door of the vivarium, which was as tall as he was, and sat back down at his desk. Inside his study, similar cages containing reptiles were scattered across the room. The desk itself was covered in mountains of books and papers, and the old swivel chair was raggedy and missing a wheel. Michael's study overlooked a forest, and the beauty outside balanced the mess inside. Nearly.

"As we speak, the first enclosures are being built," Michael said. "It would be wonderful to have a thriving population of extinct animals, but first we have to start small. Thankfully, we have everything we need to make them happy."

He stepped over a tortoise roaming around the room to a map on the wall. "As you can see here, we have a wide variety of habitats in the park – forest, aridland, plains, rivers, anything an animal could want. There's a mountain range to the north and west," pointing at the satellite photo, "and then an ocean to the east. It really does look exotic and primordial, which is exactly what we want."

Michael then grabbed a sheet of paper from his desk. It was a map of the same area, but in vivid, unrealistic colors. "This is a bathymetric depiction of the area," Michael said, "and you can see that a few miles off the coast there's a long, curving string of brightly colored spots. That's actually a chain of undersea guyots. With a little bit of extra construction, it'll actually form a natural barrier. So eventually we may be able to have marine enclosures that are actually in the sea!"

Michael put the paper back on his desk. "We already have a few species of extant animals living in the park," he said. There's a savanna paddock home to a group of black rhinos, and there are other paddocks containing things like water monitors and cassowaries. They've acclimated perfectly, and with luck, so will the more unusual animals coming."

**Michael and his team have clearly shown that they can care for everything from dodos to dinosaurs. But he knows exactly what he's bringing home from his first adventure.**

"Dinosaur paleontology would likely have been quite different were it not for the animals I'm going to bring back first," Michael said. "In 1858, an amateur geologist named William Foulke met a man called John Hopkins in the town of Haddonfield, New Jersey, who was giving away giant bones that he had found in a nearby marl pit. They were definitely dinosaur bones, so Foulke contacted the paleontologist Jospeh Leidy, who was living nearby in Philadelphia. Together, they returned to the marl pit and excavated the most complete dinosaur skeleton known at the time. It was named _Hadrosaurus foulkii_, in honor of Foulke himself."

Michael held up a picture of a mounted skeleton that resembled a very awkward reptilian kangaroo. "Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, the English artist who created the famous dinosaur sculptures at Crystal Palace Park, was assigned to make casts of the available bones and create the missing ones out of plaster. _Hadrosaurus_ became the world's first mounted dinosaur skeleton, and it captured the imaginations of people across the globe. So I'm going to travel back 70 million years in time to prehistoric New Jersey, and catch a _Hadrosaurus_ or maybe even two!"

He put the picture down and smiled. "That's not all though. In 1866, more dinosaur bones were found nearby the _Hadrosaurus_ site. But the bones weren't from _Hadrosaurus_. Instead, they found _this_."

Michael held up a huge curved claw bone that was clearly not from _Hadrosaurus_ at all. "They found a terrifying claw, at least eight inches long, and it was most certainly from a predatory animal, more specifically a theropod dinosaur. The famous paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope described the bones and named the animal _Laelaps_, after the hunting dog in Greek myth. As well as that killer claw, they also found parts of the skull and also leg bones, which showed that the animal was bipedal. Previously, scientists assumed all dinosaurs walked on four legs, like modern lizards or crocodiles. But _Laelaps _showed that this wasn't so. Another major contribution to early paleontology."

Michael ran his hand along the smooth surface of the claw. "But that's just the beginning of the story. Cope was friends with another famous paleontologist from Yale, Othniel Charles Marsh. Marsh got wind of the fact that the marl pits had great value in terms of fossils, and actually secretly bribed the workers digging there to redirect the shipment of bones to his own office and away from Cope. That was believed to be the first shot in the great Bone Wars, which ended in the discovery of many familiar dinosaurs we know and love today. And to add insult to injury, Marsh found out that the name _Laelaps_ had already been used before – to name a type of mite! Much to Cope's displeasure, it was renamed _Dryptosaurus_, the name we use today. So in effect these Jerseyan dinosaurs opened the floodgates for American paleontology. And it's almost time to head back 70 million years in order to find them in the flesh."

Michael got up and walked out of the room with his backpack.

**Of course, these terrible lizards will need top-notch accommodations to thrive. That's the job of head park keeper Norman Gallagher, who is finishing up directing the construction of the enclosure walls.**

An old Irish tune played from an equally old and scratchy radio in the heat of a summer day. However, nobody seemed to be listening to it. Instead, people were hard at work putting up tall wooden fences and laying down stone paths. A bearded man in his 50s and with a slight Southern accent was directing them.

"A bit farther…little bit farther…right. Stop. You're good. Start hammering them in," Norman Gallagher said to the staff. He paused to wipe the sweat off his brow. "Normally," he began, "you'd expect a park with giant prehistoric lizards in it to have electrified fences in it. Not here. Michael specifically wanted the wooden ones. I guess it has a little bit of a rustic feel to it."

Norman started to rustle through his clipboard. "And naturally, we would want something that causes as little harm to the animals as possible. Still though, I'm a bit worried to see what would happen when a dinosaur feels like taking a stroll out of town, eh?" He put the clipboard away. "Speak of the devil…"

Michael was walking up, shouldering his trusty backpack. "How soon do you think this enclosure will be finished?" he asked.

"Well Michael, if we keep on schedule it should be finished within the hour. Have you decided where you're heading off to yet?"

"Indeed I have. Take a look," Michael said, and handed Norman a sheet of paper with pictures. "I'm heading to the Cretaceous in search of a hadrosaur or two. With a bit of luck, I may even be able to bag a _Dryptosaurus_!"

"Drip-toe-saurus?" Norman asked. He looked perplexed. "What's that then?"

"It's a theropod. To make it simple, think T. rex crossed with a Velociraptor!"

Norman glanced at the sheet of paper and paled. After a brief moment, he said, "I sure hope you know what you're doing, Michael. They sound dangerous."

Michael laughed. "Don't worry, Norman. I'll be fine. See you with a dinosaur in tow!" He started walking off.

"Well, I hope Michael has the right idea," Norman muttered. "But I think he's being a bit ambitious too early on. I was hoping he would start with something smaller. And maybe fuzzy." He turned back to the staff. "Okay boys and girls, let's finish up this paddock!"

**Soon, Michael is ready to embark on his journey. With his team, he'll be setting off into the unknown to achieve the impossible…**

Michael sat in his Jeep, facing the time portal. The portal itself, a swirl of bright blue with hints of violet, seemed to beckon him in. He glanced at the other two Jeeps flanking his, and then started the engine. And then he drove through the time portal.

…**bring back dinosaurs to the modern day!**

The park was gone. Civilization was gone. And humanity would not exist for another 70 million years.

Michael and his team had arrived in the middle of a forest. Aside from the chirping of prehistoric insects and the trickling of a nearby brook, it was totally silent.

After taking a brief look at his surroundings, Michael got out of the Jeep. "This is interesting," he said. "Despite what you might think, this isn't just any old forest. It looks like this is a temperate rainforest, like you would see in the Pacific Northwest or the coasts of Australia. They have a high biodiversity, so this is good news. For now, though, we better set up camp, and this looks like as good a spot as any."

The team set to work putting tents up and organizing their supplies. As soon as they were finished, though, Michael was eager to start exploring on his own and start searching for his targets. The forest was mostly too dense for vehicles to move around, and so he set out on foot.

"Hiking in the woods never gets old," Michael explained as he crossed the brook near camp. "Whatever your age it's always refreshing to get out into nature for a while. And when you're walking in a prehistoric forest that nobody has ever seen…" Michael grinned. "Well, it's even better!"

The cry of a distant dinosaur echoed throughout the trees. "Of course, because nobody has ever been here before, I don't quite know what I'm going to find. There are fossils from the area, but they're only a snapshot of life in a given place. There may very well be species living here that have never been discovered in the fossil record before. And maybe we never will."

Michael stopped suddenly. "What's that?" he asked himself, and walked over to a bush, crouching there. Some of the branches there were stripped.

"Something's been eating here," Michael said. "You can see how the branches have been stripped of their leaves. It's a very orderly pattern, and not messy at all." He stood up again and searched the area.

"Here!" he said, pointing to the ground. "Look at how all these ferns were flattened. And over there, that fallen log is snapped…I'd say this is a trail where some sort of herbivore has been."

The trail moved on into the forest, through several groves and thickets. "I can say with relative certainty that a dinosaur made this trail, but I don't think it was made by our _Hadrosaurus_, because the trail seems to be a bit small. But we can try following it and catch up with-"

Michael was interrupted by a rustling in the bushes. He turned, slowly, as the rustling continued. "Let's hide and see what's there," he whispered, and hurried behind a tree.

"I can see it better from here," he whispered. "Look there, straight through the branches…"

A brown dinosaur was hidden in the bushes, roughly cow-sized, browsing on the leaves and flowers. Armor plating covered its back and tail. It seemed oblivious to the strange creature hiding behind the tree.

"I know what this is," Michael whispered. "It's a nodosaur, a type of dinosaur covered in armor plating. Nodosaurs weren't as heavily armored as their cousins the ankylosaurs, but they were closely related. The neat thing about it is that only a few nodosaur fossils have been found from this particular time and place."

He watched as the nodosaur continued browsing on flowers. "I've always had a soft spot for these types of dinosaurs. If we can set up the portal, it might be the first dinosaur we bring back to Prehistoric Park. Let's go."

Michael stepped out from behind the tree and set the portal sticks into the ground. The nodosaur looked up from its meal and watched him curiously. Michael activated the portal, and it flared into life. "Now let's see if I can bag a nodosaur!" he said, and made his way into the bushes where the dinosaur stood.

Upon Michael's approach, the nodosaur grunted and dropped itself on the ground, nestling into the leaf litter and exposing its armor plating. Michael tapped a broken stick on the dinosaur's back, but to no avail. "Seems like he doesn't want to deal with all the riffraff," he said with a smirk. "I'll keep trying though."

He continued tapping the stick until the nodosaur stood and grunted, apparently tired of the commotion. It trotted out of the bushes as best as a heavy dinosaur could trot and straight into the time portal, followed by a happy Michael.

**Back at the park, the present is about to meet the past.**

Norman watched intently from a walkway above as the portal flared into life. "Let's see what you've got, Michael," he said to himself.

Suddenly, the nodosaur trotted through the time portal, looking for all the world like a top-heavy turtle crossed with an army tank. It was followed by Michael, who gave a vigorous thumbs up.

"Look at him go!" Norman said as he watched the nodosaur. "Get it into a holding pen!" he said to the staff.

Soon the park's newest-and oldest-resident was safely contained within a holding pen. Michael met Norman on a walkway overlooking the pen. "Do you like him?" he asked Norman.

"That I do, Michael!" Norman said. "He's hardly what I expected though. A boy, or a girl?"

"I think it's an old male," Michael said. "If you look, he's got old scars on his armor. Those may have been from previous battles with other males, maybe over territory or even a girlfriend. It's hard to say, though. We'll have to let Catherine check." Catherine was the park's head vet.

"Well, either way, it's still good enough for me," Norman said, and they both laughed.

**Soon, staff from around the park are flocking to see Prehistoric Park's first ever dinosaur. Among them is Terry Wright, the park's resident paleontologist.**

Michael watched from the walkway as a Land Cruiser pulled up along the side of the holding pen, and a dark-haired man with a hat in his 30s stepped out and hurried up the stairs to meet him. "What did you find?" Terry Wright said, anxiously. "I really want to see."

"See for yourself, Terry," Michael said. "It's a nodosaur."

Terry watched the nodosaur moving about in the holding pen. "Wow," he said. "It's fantastic."

"I was hoping you'd be able to identify the species!"

"Well, I don't think we can say for certain. The fossil material is too scrappy to deserve a name yet. But I don't really care about that; it's gorgeous."

Michael nodded. "Where's Catherine? She'd love to see this. And, we had a question for her…"

Terry adjusted his hat. "Still working with the water monitor in the clinic. I think she should be out soon."

"Well, I don't think I can stay. We haven't even seen our target species yet!" Michael laughed. "Norman, the nodosaur lived in a wooded area, a bit like a temperate rainforest. Do you have the right paddock for him?"

"Well, it's not perfect, but I have one that'll do, I think. I'll go help move him in now."

"Great. Terry, do you want to come back with me this time?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Terry laughed.

**When they next return, Michael and Terry want to do so with more dinosaurs in tow…**

The sun was slowly dipping below the horizon in the Cretaceous sky. All the light was fading, and the team was getting ready to pack it in for the night.

"As you can see it's getting dark out," Michael said as he sat next to the campfire with a beverage in hand. "Terry and I would love to do a bit of night exploration, but we decided against it just in case we run into something, or something runs into us. The best thing to do now is just sleep and get some rest."

Michael retreated back into his tent, and as the sun set only the campfire lit the clearing.

In the morning, Michael and Terry were up bright and early to continue their search. "There's been a small change of plan," Michael said. "From what I can gather, there's no sign of bigger dinosaurs inside the forest itself. So, we're going to look for a more open area."

Further on, the two heard low, rumbling noises. "Do you hear that?" Michael asked. Terry nodded. "I think we're finally getting some luck," he said.

"I think it's coming from over there…"

They reached the forest edge, and saw a large plains clearing nestled amongst the trees. In the middle rested a clear, rippling lake. Clustered around the lake was a sizeable herd of dinosaurs with heads shaped rather like those of ducks. A flock of pterosaurs wheeled about high in the sky above them all.

Terry and Michael watched in amazement. "Finally," Michael breathed. "Not just one _Hadrosaurus_, but a whole herd!"

**Paleontologists believe that many types of hadrosaur dinosaurs travelled in herds. Huge bonebeds of these "duckbilled" dinosaurs have been found in the western regions of North America. Now, it seems, we know **_**Hadrosaurus**_** itself lived in herds too.**

The hadrosaurs were colored a mottled brown and green, and were busy drinking at the lake. "Honestly, I have no idea how we can get a _Hadrosaurus_ or two through the portal right now," Michael laughed, "but they are beautiful. Hey, look there…"

There was a small group of another type of dinosaur mingling inside the herd, shaped like ostriches and covered with black feathers.

"Do you see them, Terry?" Michael asked. "They look like ornithomimids. I didn't know they were found around here."

Terry nodded. "I think they're _Coelosaurus antiquus_. The species is a bit of a taxonomic muddle, but otherwise they're typical ornithomimids."

As the two watched, some of the _Coelosaurus_ started picking at the hadrosaurs' skin, who seemed largely indifferent. "I think I know what they're doing," Michael said. "I've seen this with oxpecker birds and water buffalo on the African savannas. The oxpeckers detach and eat parasites on the buffalo's hide, giving them a food source. The birds are also quite wary, and give out alarm calls when a possible predator is nearby. So the water buffalo are given an early warning system in exchange for the parasites that the birds pick off. It's an interesting symbiotic relationship, and one that I think is being represented in a dinosaurian form here."

The _Coelosaurus_ continued preening the hadrosaurs, moving from individual to individual. "But research has shown that oxpeckers might not be as beneficial as we think. So maybe these _Coelosaurus_ could end up doing a bit of harm as well as good," Michael continued. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

Around the lake, the _Hadrosaurus_ were milling about, grazing on ferns and continuing to lap at the shining waters of the lake. The _Coelosaurus_ were considerably more birdlike, moving quickly and cocking their heads at the slightest disturbance.

Suddenly, a noise that sounded like a high-pitched roar crossed with a harsh snarl echoed across the plain. Upon hearing it, one of the _Coelosaurus_ raised its head and let out a cry of alarm.

"Something's spooked them," Terry said with obvious concern.

The hadrosaurs looked up from their activities and started calling as well, moving away from the lake in agitation. "That definitely sounded like a predator," Michael said, raising his binoculars. "And the herd knows it. They're starting to move away – oh my god!"

A pack of theropod dinosaurs leapt out of the trees at the far side of the plain and began running towards the herd. They were colored brick red, and a crest of black quills ran from their head down along their backs. Upon seeing them, the _Coelosaurus_ instantly scattered, but the hadrosaurs were clearly less organized, starting to rear up on their hind legs and run in different directions while letting out loud bellows.

With frightening speed, the pack ran across the clearing towards their prey.

"They can only be one thing; _Dryptosaurus_!" Michael shouted over the cacophony from the hadrosaurs. "Look at them go!"

Two of the theropods ran between the herd and a juvenile hadrosaur, cutting it off from the rest of the group. Another _Dryptosaurus_ leapt onto the youngster's back, throwing it off balance and causing it to topple over. As soon as the hadrosaur had fallen, the pack descended on it to slice through its neck with tooth and claw and incapacitate it – for good.

"They are fast," Michael said, "and _very_ scary!"

As soon as the young hadrosaur was dead, the _Dryptosaurus_ pack began to tear through its flesh and gulp down chunks of meat. The rest of the herd had fled, and only the sound of snapping bones remained on the plain.

Michael lowered his binoculars. "We can't do anything more here but watch. I'm actually kind of glad that we saw this, even though I feel sorry for that poor juvenile. Now we know what to expect from a _Dryptosaurus_, and it's going to be more than a bit difficult getting one back to Prehistoric Park."

"We should leave," Terry said. "Other carnivores are going to start moving in soon, and I for one don't want to be here when they show up."

"Agreed. Let's head back to camp now." And the two departed, taking one last glance at the spectacle behind them.

**Meanwhile, back at the park, Norman is checking up on the park's new resident.**

A clean wooden sign stood outside of the forested paddock, now labeled "_Nodosaur Nook_." Norman was standing next to it and looking into the enclosure. "Our new friend seems to be a bit shy," he said. "The second we put him in, he shambled off into the undergrowth, and I haven't seen him since. Michael told me that he thought the nodosaurs were secretive by nature, so maybe it's normal." Norman unlocked a door in the fence. "I'll try and see if I can find him."

It took a while before Norman finally spotted a small branch that was twitching among the bushes. "Ah, there he is," he said. "Eating again. All he does is eat – kind of like me I suppose." Norman smiled.

The nodosaur was now visible. He was nestled between two bushes and eating the foliage in front of him.

"I've taken a bit of a liking to him," Norman admitted. "He's not too big, not too strange, and not something that's going to eat you if you get too close. He's not the most intelligent animal in the world, obviously, but he does seem rather friendly. Just shy, is all. I have an idea…"

Norman snapped a flower off a nearby bush and began making his way towards the nodosaur. "Back in the day when a lot of dinosaurs were walking around, flowers didn't exist yet. But as Michael tells me, they evolved in the Cretaceous and started to become common. By the time our friend the nodosaur was living, flowers were a normal sight. So I'm going to try and offer him one."

He kneeled down a few feet away from where the nodosaur was hiding, and extended his arm out with the flower in his hand. "Look what I've got here," he whispered. "Tasty, right?"

The nodosaur looked at him curiously, and sniffed the air. But after a few seconds it grunted, and dropped itself to the ground. Even Norman's vigorous shaking of the flower didn't make it budge.

Norman sighed. "I guess I'll try again later," he said, and left the paddock.

**Meanwhile in the Cretaceous, Michael is indulging himself to a bit of sightseeing.**

Michael sat on a rock next to the brook, looking into the water. "Ever since I was a boy, streams were some of my favorite places. You can find a lot of animals here in a relatively short period. Like over there!" he pointed.

In a wider and deeper area of the brook further upstream, crocodile-like creatures were swimming in the water and resting on the bank. "Those are a type of ancient gavial, maybe _Thoracosaurus_," Michael said. "And there are many turtles here, too – I'll see if I can grab one for you to look at."

Michael stood up, scanning the surface. Suddenly, he ran into the brook and plunged his hands into the water. When he brought them up, they were holding a fairly large turtle. "Softshell turtles!" he said. "What's neat about these animals is that they are still alive in the present day, almost entirely unchanged…even the exact genus that this turtle belongs to, _Trionyx_!"

The turtle flailed its limbs about until Michael put it back into the brook, where it swam away.

"I would love to take some of these species back to Prehistoric Park, but we have a bit of a dilemma to solve right now," Michael explained. "That would be getting 30-odd tons of _Hadrosaurus_ to walk through the time portal. That's no easy feat. But I think I may have a solution."

Michael started to dry himself off next to his tent. "Back at the plains, I noticed that it is mostly surrounded by forest, except for one small area of broken trees and generally more open space. I think it's a trail that the hadrosaur herd has made to reach the lake. It would be unreasonable to suggest that the herd lives at the plains all the time, because it's a comparatively small area compared to, say, the entirety of the plains of Africa. So my theory is that the herd uses that trail to travel to and from other feeding grounds. If we set up the portal right in that trail, the herd will go straight through. Getting them to go in when we want them to, well, that's no easy feat either." Michael laughed. "Let's hope, then, that everything works-"

He was cut off by a high-pitched roar, coming from very close by. "Hide, guys!" Terry said, and the team ran into the forest, concealing themselves behind trees nearby.

The _Dryptosaurus_ pack walked into the campsite, continuing to roar. A couple of the animals sniffed at the tents and nosed the Jeeps with their snouts. The lead individuals started to lap at the brook.

**It seems that the team has camped right where the resident pack of _Dryptosaurus_ likes to drink.**

All the animals were gathered at the brook now, intermittently drinking and then raising their heads and roaring.

"Why are they making so much noise?" Michael asked.

"Well, they're obviously not hunting," Terry whispered. "All this racket would scare off creatures for miles around. Maybe that's what they're trying to do, even. Telling any rival packs that might be around to stay out."

"I have an idea," Michael said, reaching into his backpack as quietly as he could. He pulled out a small microphone attached to an extension cord. "This is a machine used to record birdsong," he whispered. "I brought it in case any feathery animals – smaller ones, at least – were making interesting calls. I wasn't expecting to use it for dinosaurs, but I might have a use for all this noise…" Michael switched the device on.

About a minute of roaring and snarling was recorded before the pack started to make their way from the brook and Michael turned the equipment off. One particularly inquisitive _Dryptosaurus_ walked right next to the tree where he was hiding, and then proceeded to stick its nose into Michael's tent. The dinosaur raised its head, pulling the tent up with it, and scratched its nose before following the rest of the pack and disappearing among the trees from where they came. The tent drifted to the ground in tatters.

The team came out of hiding and went back into the camp. "Is it safe?" one member asked. "I think so," Terry replied.

Michael looked at the remains of his tent and heaved a deep sigh.

**Back at the park, head vet Catherine Knight has been called over to the nodosaur paddock.**

A Jeep pulled up to the side of _Nodosaur Nook_, and Catherine Knight stepped out, walking up to the door of the enclosure. "What's up, Norman?" she said. She was supposed to meet him here at the paddock.

"Over here, Catherine," Norman said, from somewhere inside the paddock.

Catherine went in, and walked towards the sound of Norman's voice. "I heard you were having a little trouble getting him to eat before."

"Well, see for yourself."

Catherine turned a corner and saw a grinning Norman sitting next to the nodosaur, who was eating ferns and flowers out of his hand.

**Norman's patience with the nodosaur appears to have finally paid off.**

"It took me a while, I'll give you that," Norman admitted, "but I think he trusts me now."

"He likes you," Catherine laughed as the nodosaur finished off the food in Norman's hand and nudged it, wanting more.

"He reminds me of turtles a bit," Norman said. "Not just with his shell, but he's got the personality for it too."

Catherine nodded. Turtles in captivity that had come to know their owners often became quite friendly.

"If you like each other so much, I think he deserves a name," Catherine said. "Wouldn't you say?"

"I couldn't have said it better," Norman said, and turned to the nodosaur. "Right?" The dinosaur continued eating.

"He looks like a Ned," Catherine offered.

Norman squinted. "Hmm, a little bit. Ned the Nodosaur. Sounds catchy. Do you like it?"

The nodosaur grunted and pulled a flower out of Norman's hand. "I'll take that as a yes," Norman grinned.

**In the Cretaceous, Michael and Terry are ready to put Michael's grand plan to work.**

Michael stuck the portal sticks into the ground at the appropriate place. "We're almost ready," he said. "I've set up the portals here in that wide forest trail the herd makes. The herd, in fact, is back at the lake right now." He glanced back at the dinosaurs, who were grazing and drinking. "Terry is over at the other side of the clearing with my recording equipment. We've wired it to speakers, which we've placed in a ring around the plain. You'll see what happens next." Michael pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Terry, do you read? Over."

Terry's voice replied. "Yep. Ready when you are, over."

"OK, switch it on."

There was a pause, and a high-pitched roar echoed across the plain, the recording emanating from the strategically placed speakers. The _Coelosaurus_ raised their heads, and started to squawk. Upon hearing the alarm, the hadrosaurs also started to panic, and moved away towards the trail to escape.

"Terry, it looks like it's working, start heading back to me with the recording equipment. Over and out!" Michael switched the walkie-talkie off. "It's working!"

The herd reached the portal, and thundered through.

**Michael's mad plan has worked, and it means Norman is about to get a big surprise.**

"Stand by!" Norman shouted. "We've got another creature coming through!"

He stared at the swirling portal, watching for it – whatever _it_ was – to come through. "Maybe Michael's brought back another nodosaur." Norman smirked. "Maybe that means Ned can even have a girlfrOH MY GOD!"

The herd of _Hadrosaurus_ and _Coelosaurus_ barreled through the time portal, startling Norman and nearly throwing him off his feet. "But…what…how the…" he sputtered, before realizing something very important. "Get them into Holding Pen 5, now!" he shouted to the staff. Holding Pen 5 was their largest.

As the doors to the pen opened, the hadrosaurs' tails smacked against the sides of the passageway, rattling the wooden walls. The last of the herd funneled in before the doors closed and Norman ran down the walkway to look at them from above.

"Look at them all," he muttered. "Michael! What on earth have you done?"

**Everything seems to be under control for the Prehistoric Park team – almost. **

Michael was laughing as Terry met up with him by the portal. "Great job, Terry," he said over the noise of the recorded roaring.

"We must've bagged at least 15 animals," Terry grinned. "Two species!"

"Norman's going to kill me when we get back," Michael laughed over the noise. But then he noticed something on. "Hey Terry, did you turn the speakers and everything off?"

"Yeah," Terry replied, "you told me to back at the other end of the plains. Why?" he asked. And then he listened to the roaring in the air. "Ah."

They turned to look towards the lake, and saw the _Dryptosaurus_ pack on the plains, searching for their prey.

**The pack of _Dryptosaurus_ seems to be wondering why their prey has suddenly vanished. And they don't look very happy. What's more, they seem to have spotted easier targets among the trees…**

One of the lead animals looked directly at the portal and the two men standing there, and uttered a roar. The entire pack started running at them.

Thinking quickly, Michael turned towards Terry. "Quick! Run through the portal and warn Norman to ready another holding pen. I'll meet up with you!"

Terry nodded, and ran back through the time portal to Prehistoric Park.

"Let's see how hungry these guys are!" Michael shouted, and waved his arms. "Hello! Over here! Yes! Hello! Come on!"

He let the pack run closer, frighteningly close, before he finally turned tail and dashed through the portal. And the pack followed him.

Meanwhile, Norman was moaning over the hadrosaur herd when he heard someone shouting. "Norman! Over here, quick!"

He ran back to the portal, where he saw Terry climbing up the ladder to the walkway. "Terry! Where's Michael?" Norman hollered.

"He's coming! Get another holding pen ready!"

"Why?" Norman shouted as he heard a familiar buzz: the sound that meant something had come through the portal. He looked down and saw Michael starting to scurry up the ladder. "Hi Norman!" he shouted. "I've brought you a present!"

And with that, the _Dryptosaurus_ pack leapt through the portal. As Michael reached the walkway, Norman's jaw dropped. "What the hell?…_Michael_!"

"I couldn't help myself," Michael said as he watched the pack run into another holding pen.

"Michael, Michael, Michael, where am I going to put them? And what on earth am I going to feed them all? It was bad enough when you sent that giant herd through, and now you've brought these things in!"

Michael looked at Terry and smiled. "He's going to be like this _all_ week."

**Soon, all the animals were put into proper paddocks. The herd of **_**Hadrosaurus**_** and **_**Coelosaurus **_**was put into an enclosure with plenty of open space and a lake, while the **_**Dryptosaurus**_** pack was moved into an enclosure with a river running through it. And Michael is eager to find out if all the animals are in mint condition.**

Michael later met up with Terry and Norman near the new _Dryptosaurus_ paddock. "Hey guys," Michael said. "Are all the animals doing well?"

"Yes they are," Terry said. "Catherine gave them a look-over, and also gave them all a clean bill of health."

"Great!"

"I must say, Michael," Norman said, "they were a bit of a shock when they first came through, but now that they're settled in and I've had a good look at them, they're absolutely beautiful."

"Well, they should be, shouldn't they?" Michael said. "It's nature without human intervention. There's the pack now!"

The pack of _Dryptosaurus_ was walking out of the trees, sniffing the air.

"It's a whole new world for them," Michael said, "and it'll be a whole new adventure for us."

"And an adventure for the rest of the world, too," Norman added.

"Well, maybe. After all, the Earth had front row seats for the _original_ showing!"

**Next time…**

**Michael travels back 47 million years to meet a very important actor in the play of human evolution.**

Michael peers at a small monkey-like creature perching on a branch.

**And Norman learns that taking care of extinct animals isn't always as easy as the job description says it is. **

A _Coelosaurus_ hops over the paddock fence, with an angry Norman chasing after it.

**For now, the park is peaceful, serving as home for the first species that haven't seen the light of day for millions of years. Let's just hope Prehistoric Park knows what it's getting into…**

* * *

_Well, there you are. The first episode of Prehistoric Park: Reborn. Feel free to leave a review, and you're welcome to give any constructive criticism I might have. I also always welcome speculations of the next episode ;) Questions are always accepted, and I'll probably PM you the answer. If it's one I feel that may be relevant for the whole community that is reading to hear, I'll still PM you but repost the answer before the next chapter for all to see._

_Anyway, here's the list of creatures caught that is standard to most PP fanfictions. I'll be using a different, shorter format though: "(x).(x) Examplesaurus" means (x) males and (x) females of whatever creature brought back (in that order)._

**_1.0 indeterminate Nodosaur  
_****_1.2 Coelosaurus  
_****_4.7 Hadrosaurus  
_****_2.3 Dryptosaurus_**

_And here's the animals that were seen but not brought back, just because they're interesting:_

**_Pterodactyloid pterosaurs  
_****_Thoracosaurus  
_****_Trionyx_**

_From now on before-chapter and end-chapter notes will be much shorter :P_

_Get ready for the next thrilling chapter!_


	2. Humanity's First Aunt

_Well, well, a new episode here. Have fun with it :D _

_Before I begin, a slight warning: when you are attempting to determine the gender of a dinosaur with no other individuals to compare it to, you kind of have to "pull up their skirts," as certain mathematicians put it. I've tried to make it both as PG and PC as possible. Just be aware that some parts of this chapter may be considered rated T for some viewers. _

_Also: I just found out that an actor also bears the name of Michael Emerson, but the two have no relation to each other whatsoever and I did not have this guy in mind while making the name. Just thought I should throw this out there. _

* * *

**We live in a very strange world. Over ninety-nine percent of the species that ever lived on our planet are now extinct. But what if we could save them? What if we could bring them back to our own world?**

**Join biologist Michael Emerson as he travels back in time to meet animals that have never existed for millions of years. He will save them from extinction and take them into the present day to give them a second chance.**

**This time, Michael travels back to the Eocene, where he meets the cousins of all humanity and a very large and definitely very angry bird.**

**Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome…to Prehistoric Park!**

After grabbing a shovel, Norman pulled a jumbo-sized wheelbarrow out of the back of a pickup truck and set it on the ground. He was stood outside the _Hadrosaurus_ paddock. "For those of you not in the know," he began, "Michael brought back his first creatures a couple days ago. And I can imagine he has fun doing that. But I have the real jobs: helping feed the animals, making friends with the animals – some of them, anyway – and, of course…"

Norman picked up his shovel. "Cleaning the paddocks. Probably the least glamorous job of them all."

"Oh, look at it this way Norman, you could be cleaning up after a _Brachiosaurus_ instead," Terry said, who was seated on the hood of a nearby Jeep.

Norman sighed. "Don't give him ideas, Terry," he said. "I suppose, you know, since you're sitting there, you could be helping…"

"Oh, I will," Terry assured, "don't worry. I wanted to take a nice long look at the droppings once they've been shoveled. It's not every day you get to see hadrosaur droppings five minutes after they've been created."

"May heaven help me," Norman muttered, as he grabbed the wheelbarrow and started to walk over to the paddock door. Thankfully, however, Michael arrived just then, providing a bit of salvation.

"Hello, Michael," Norman said, quickly abandoning the wheelbarrow. "Where are you off to?"

"Well, I've planned my next adventure," Michael said. "I'm heading to the Eocene, about 47 million years ago, to prehistoric Germany."

"Germany?" Norman asked, as Terry raised an eyebrow towards Michael. "What can you be bringing back from there?"

"You mean you're…" Terry began, and Michael said, "Yes I am, Terry. There's a quarry near Frankfurt dating to that time period, and it preserves remarkable fossil remains."

"It's renowned throughout paleontological circles," Terry explained to Norman, "because of the wide variety of fossil animals that have been found. A couple years ago, something really exciting showed up…well, you explain, Michael."

"In 2009, scientists unveiled a fossil primate that had been found at the quarry over 25 years previously. It was named _Darwinius_, in honor of Charles Darwin himself. It was very well preserved, and even its stomach contents were fossilized. We believe that it rests, evolutionary speaking, somewhere on the lineage from early primate to man!"

"Really, then?" Norman asked. "So it's sort of like the grandfather of all humanity, then?"

"I'd say more like the aunt," Michael said. "Either way, it will be a very exciting acquisition for Prehistoric Park!"

"Are you bringing back anything else?" Terry asked.

"Well, the Messel pit does have some other unique species preserved as fossils. Be prepared," Michael winked. "Do you want to come this time, Terry?"

"No thanks," Terry said. "I figure I'd better stay here and help the staff with the dinosaurs," gesturing towards Norman.

"Alright. I'll see you both later," Michael said, picking up his backpack. He started to walk away. "Have fun with the hadrosaurs, Norman," he shouted over his shoulder. And then he was gone.

Norman gave Terry a long, hard look.

"What?" Terry asked innocently.

"_'Are you bringing back anything else'_, you say," Norman muttered. "You had to ask, didn't you."

"Oh. Well. Sorry." Terry smirked. "The wheelbarrow's still over there."

Norman sighed, and walked back to the paddock door.

**Leaving Norman to do the shoveling, Michael's team is ready to set off into the Eocene.**

All the members of Michael's team wore backpacks containing their supplies, and some of them were carrying plastic cases and small dog crates. "Are we ready, everyone?" Michael asked from in front of the time portal. He received several "readys" and thumbs up from the crew. "Alright then. Let's go!"

The team walked through the portal.

As Michael stepped through, he found himself in a subtropical forest. Tall trees with gnarly roots surrounded him, and it was very hot and humid. The rest of the team came through and started setting up the campsite.

"The first thing that strikes me about the Eocene is that it's very hot," Michael said as he turned the portal off and put away the sticks. "Scientists think this is because a large amount of carbon and methane entered the atmosphere about 55 million years before the present day. That caused the temperature to increase dramatically, and we're at the peak of this rise right now. Then the temperature will start to lower again. It's hard to believe that at the end of the Eocene, the planet will be an icehouse instead of a hothouse."

"Michael, look!" a team member named James whispered. "Over here!"

Michael quietly made his way over to investigate. Over a ridge, he saw a group of small brown mammals that looked vaguely like miniature tapirs. "Those are _Propalaeotherium_," Michael whispered. "They might not look like it, but they're actually one of the first horses. In fact, these horses are primitive enough that they don't even have hooves yet. So I can't see them running the Preakness any time soon," he smirked.

He watched as the _Propalaeotherium_ foraged for food on the forest floor. They ate many flowers and leaves, but seemed to be focusing on eating fallen fruit that must have dropped from the trees above. The red berries were quickly gobbled up by tiny horse mouths.

**What Michael doesn't know is that something else is watching these little horses as well.**

Abruptly, one of the horses raised its head, its ears pricked up. It had apparently heard something in the undergrowth.

And then a giant, squawking bird, as tall as Michael and with stubby wings ran from the trees and grabbed one of the _Propalaeotherium_. The rest of the group fled as the bird snapped the little horse's neck with one bite.

"It's a _Gastornis_!" Michael said. "And it's just downed one of the _Propalaeotherium_!"

Michael's team watched as the _Gastornis_ held the now-dead horse with its foot and began to tear away strips of flesh. "It's clearly an ambush predator," Michael whispered. "I'd get a bit closer but I don't trust that bird's attitude. Even though I'm as tall as it is, and it shouldn't hunt animals as big as I am, it might still attack me." The _Gastornis_ was covered with gray feathers, with a crest of black feathers atop its head. But its face was bare like a vulture's, allowing it to stay clean as it continued eating the _Propalaeotherium_.

As he watched, James shifted his weight, causing a branch under the leaf litter to snap. The _Gastornis_ perked its head up at the noise, causing the horse carcass to snap in two. It then fled back into the forest, carrying the back half of the horse with it.

"It's gone now," Michael said. "But boy, did it strike quickly!" He got up and peered at the half of the _Propalaeotherium_ lying on the ground. "I might have some use for this," he said. "Dennis, can you hand me one of the plastic cases please?"

He picked up the remains with two sticks on the ground and put it into the carrying case, which was totally opaque. "I'm going to take this back to camp and leave the side open," Michael said. "See if I can attract one of the local scavengers. I'm half tempted to slip this into someone's sleeping bag tonight, but catching creatures is more important than personal satisfaction." He laughed. "Alright guys, let's finish setting up."

**Meanwhile, back at Prehistoric Park, Norman is concerned about one of the park's current residents.**

Norman, having gotten himself out of cleanup duty, was in the nodosaur paddock, feeding his new best friend. The dinosaur wagged its tail in satisfaction as it ate.

**Ned the nodosaur was the first dinosaur that Michael encountered on a trip to the Cretaceous period, 70 million years ago. His inherent shyness meant that it took a bit of work getting him to become friendly, but Norman's persistence paid off, and Ned is now very tame.**

"Look at him wagging his tail," Norman said. "He's just like some big dog that way." He laughed.

"There's just one thing I'm worried about," Norman said. "When Michael first brought him in, we all assumed he was a male. We came up with the name Ned with that in mind. I kind of like that name, and it's already stuck in my head. But there is still a possibility that Ned might be a girl instead, and then we'd have to change his name. The problem is that I haven't a clue how to check. It's not exactly like we have another animal to compare it to, either."

Norman got his walkie-talkie out. "Maybe Catherine can help." He pressed a button. "Cath, are you there?"

The radio crackled. "Yeah, over."

"I'm a bit curious over here. Is there any chance I can bring Ned over to the clinic for you to have a look at? More specifically, I was wondering if you can try determining his sex, if at all possible."

There was a pause. "I'll see what I can do, Norman. Bring him over at any time. Over and out."

"Well," Norman said, looking at the nodosaur, "now we just have to get him to the clinic."

**Back in the Eocene, Michael has discovered something rather startling.**

Michael walked up to the edge of a large pond. "I've read about these," he said. "There's a lot of volcanic activity around these parts, and scientists believe that most of the animals at the Messel pit due to carbon dioxide poisoning, which was outgassed from the lakes and ponds. Normally the carbon dioxide rests at the bottom of the water, out of the way of any aquatic animals. But tremors in the ground may have released the gas, causing widespread death of animal life. Something similar happened at Lake Nyos of Cameroon in 1986. The outgassing of carbon dioxide from a tremor killed over a thousand people."

He took a look at the surface of the lake. "Everything seems quiet now – I don't feel any tectonic activity at the moment, and there are turtles swimming about over there. So I'm going to say that everything is safe…for the time being, at least."

At the far side of the pond, a lone _Propalaeotherium_ was drinking. But something else caught Michael's attention. Through a grove of ferns, he saw something rustling in the leaves. From them hopped another small mammal, roughly two feet long. It was colored dark brown, but its fur had a sort of iridescence to it, and it had long legs.

"Look at this," Michael said. "This can only be one thing: a _Leptictidium_. They have an appearance resembling that of a large elephant shrew. People have studied their fossils, and come to the conclusion that they are one of the only bipedal mammals, along with the kangaroo family and of course humans."

He watched the _Leptictidium_ as it groomed itself and looked around. "I would love to have one of these animals back at Prehistoric Park," Michael smiled. "I have a little dog crate with me to put it in for now, so now the only challenge is catching it. Let's see who's faster!"

Michael lunged for the _Leptictidium_, which started hopping away. But Michael was faster. He grabbed the mammal with two hands, as gently as possible to avoid hurting it. Once the _Leptictidium_ was in his grip, it started squirming, but Michael attempted to calm it down. "Shh, it's OK, I've got you," he said, but it didn't seem to help.

He released it into the dog crate and set the latch. "Well, that takes care of that," Michael said.

Suddenly, he heard a large splash coming from the pond directly behind him. Michael turned his head and dived to the ground instinctively. He heard another splash but when he was finally able to get a good look, the creature had already vanished back into the water.

"What the _blazes_ was that?" Michael asked. "I couldn't get a decent look at it, but apparently it had a very good look at me."

Michael got up and brushed himself off. "I'll come back later to look for it," he said. "Right now I have a _Leptictidium_ to take back to camp."

**Michael has just escaped the grasp of an unknown aquatic predator, and to make matters worse, he hasn't found any sign of the elusive **_**Darwinius**_** at all yet.**

Michael departed the pond, walking back towards the campsite.

**At the park, vet Catherine is ready to try something nobody has ever done before: determining the gender of a dinosaur.**

Catherine slipped on her latex gloves as she heard the door to the clinic open. "That should be Norman and Ned," she said, and walked out to meet them.

Norman and a few other staff members were wheeling in the nodosaur on a metal rolling cart. "Here he is, Catherine," Norman said. "Keep us updated, hmm? I'm anxious." He chuckled.

Catherine smiled. "Have you tranquilized him?"

"What? No. We didn't want to risk it. It would be difficult to dart him with all his armor, anyways."

"He's awake? Then why isn't he strapped down?" Catherine asked.

Norman looked sheepish. "Ah. Yes. That. Well," he began, "as soon as we coaxed him onto the rolling cart, he hunkered down into his little defense position we've been seeing. He hasn't budged since." Norman tapped Ned with a small stick, and nothing happened. "See?"

"Alright," Catherine said. "I'll put him under some sevoflurane once we get him in. But if decides to get up and run around, you know exactly who gets the blame," she laughed.

"Yeah, yeah," Norman said. "Good luck, boy - hopefully boy, anyway," he said to Ned, and patted him on the back. At this the nodosaur lashed out its tail, knocking into a steel shelf and rattling medical equipment. "Whoops," Norman muttered.

Catherine and the vets wheeled Ned into another room.

**In the Eocene, Michael checks up on his meat bait, and finds that it has attracted a couple visitors.**

Michael kneeled down to look inside the case. "There we are!" he said. "Come down here to get a better look. I hoped these guys would arrive."

A group of ants had been attracted to the meat. But these were no ordinary ants: they were huge, many an inch long. In addition, there were a couple ants with wings inside.

"Despite what you might think," Michael said, "I'm not crazy to be wasting my time catching ants. These are _Titanomyrma giganteum_, the largest ants ever! Scientists believe they were a precursor to today's army ants."

He watched a trail of ants carrying small chunks of meat away. "Those ants are taking the food back to the nest, wherever that may be. I don't want to get bitten by one of these, though. Modern army ants can bite very hard and can be really painful. _Titanomyrma_ is twice as large."

Michael shut the door of the case. "The couple dozen or so that I've captured should be enough to form a new queen and start a new colony at Prehistoric Park. I'm going to put this with the _Leptictidium_, and then I'm heading back off to the pond."

**While Michael is getting some exercise, Catherine is back at the clinic with Ned the nodosaur.**

Ned was sleeping and strapped to a table as the vet staff got ready to work. Catherine was preparing her tools. "It's hard to determine the structure of a dinosaur's reproductive organs when there's nothing to compare them to," she said. "But we think that it was similar to that of chelonians, crocodilians, or birds, or possibly a combination of those. In any case, we're going to use an endoscopic probe to find out."

She held a silver rod with a lens at the end, attached to a plastic cord. "Are we ready?" Catherine asked the staff.

Some of the vet technicians kept an eye on the heart rate and blood pressure displayed as Catherine slipped the probe into the nodosaur's cloaca. Then she turned to a laptop screen, which showed an image from the rod itself.

"There it is. You can see something like phalline tissue here…it means it's definitely male." She smiled. "Norman will be happy."

Catherine removed the endoscopic probe and set it on a metal tray. "It's interesting, though. I've taken a look at some of the other apparatus and they show that Ned has an internal metabolism unlike any animals I've seen in the present day. It's hard to put into words, but I don't think we can tell yet if this is consistent throughout all of the Dinosauria or if it's just species-specific. Time will tell."

She turned to the vet staff. "Alright, let's clean everything up in here and start waking Ned up."

**Back in the Eocene, Michael is playing a dangerous game…**

Michael was at the pond, holding a large stick. "It's time to find this mysterious water monster. What I'm about to do may seem a bit dangerous, but I think I know what I'm doing. This works with the alligators and crocodiles back in the present day. By tapping the ground and splashing at the water, whatever's in the pond should feel vibrations, and probably come up for a meal. Long story short…don't try this at home."

He began splashing the water with his stick, and soon moved on to thumping the edge of the bank. Michael alternated this, over and over again. "Come on…"

Suddenly, he started backing away, and the mysterious creature launched itself out of the water and onto the bank. When the water receded, an animal that looked like a crocodile crossed with an otter with gray fur stood on the bank.

Michael breathed, "I thought I would find this. They're actually not even from around here. But this is _Ambulocetus_, and it was an early ancestor of the whales, believe it or not!"

_**Ambulocetus**_** was part of a cetacean family that still had the ability to come onto land. Despite giving rise to the first completely aquatic whales, it still looked remarkably like a furry crocodilian. And it seems to behave like one, too.**

The _Ambulocetus_ snapped at Michael, who said, "Maybe I can get it back to Prehistoric Park. I just need to get it through the time portal…which I haven't set up yet…"

Quickly, he kicked off his shoe to provide a distraction as he scrambled to set up the time portal. The _Ambulocetus_ looked at the shoe, curiously. "Just one more switch…and there!" he said. "Got it…oh my god!"

**Back at Prehistoric Park, Norman is about to get a surprise.**

Norman was standing on the walkway next to the portal site, thinking. "Ned should be finished soon," he said. "I can hardly wait for him to get back in his paddock. Hopefully Catherine has sorted things out. Terry!" he shouted.

"Yeah?" Terry said, who was outside the fence, walking by.

"Any news from the clinic yet?"

"Not yet," Terry said, and then paused. "Hey, look sharp!" he said, and started to hurry up the stairs to the walkway.

Norman turned around as the portal flared into life. "Michael's back!" he said happily. "Let's see what he's brought home."

Without warning, Michael's shoe flew through the portal and landed on the grounding, bouncing a bit before coming to a stop.

"…eh?"

And the _Ambulocetus_ ran through as best it could, snarling in general annoyance at the world around it.

"What on Earth? But…what…where's Michael? Is…"

"Don't worry Norman, if he had been eaten I think there would have been a bit more attached to the shoe!" Terry yelled as he reached Norman. "Wow," he gasped. "He's brought home a beauty."

"He just brought home a giant furry crocodile! Without telling us!"

"It's alright, I think I know where to put this," Terry reassured, as Michael's head stuck through the portal. "Do look after him, if you would," Michael said, and then, after retrieving his shoe, disappeared without saying anything further.

Norman sighed. "Leave it to Michael to bring back some souvenirs."

**After taking care of the **_**Ambulocetus**_**, Michael returns to search for his most important target.**

"That was great," Michael said as he walked back to camp. "Even though the _Ambulocetus_ isn't native to this area, it's still quite a creature to bag. Its fossils are actually found in what today would be portions of Pakistan, but I suspect it migrated up this way, perhaps in a seasonal search of warmer climes."

He continued trudging back to his tent. "But we still haven't found our _Darwinius_ yet. I've found no sign of one at all, and I'm beginning to suspect they're nocturnal, like some small primates found today. The sun is starting to set now, and I'm probably going to head off tonight for a flashlight and look for them then. Maybe I'll have better luck."

Pretty soon, night fell, and Michael was grabbing a flashlight. "I'll be back in a few hours, if not sooner," he told the crew, and walked off into the jungle.

Over the sounds of insects, Michael said, "This is great! I've been night hiking in other jungles, like Costa Rica and Indonesia, and I haven't lost the excitement. There are all sorts of animals to be found here." He pointed his flashlight upwards. "Look up!"

In the beam of a flashlight, an odd-looking creature with a long tail used clawed arms to clamber through the tree branches. "That's some sort of primitive anteater, something tamandua-like," Michael said, "and you can see bats everywhere! Despite having just evolved, they look nearly identical to the bats of the present day."

Michael stopped talking and instead focused his flashlight on the lower tree branches. The trunks were twisted, like the bottom of a mangrove tree.

And then, he shined his flashlight on a thick branch, and saw two small monkey-like animals, perching on the tree.

Slowly, Michael moved forward, trying not to scare them. "I think this may be it," he whispered. "The one and the only _Darwinius_."

He made his way right up to the tree branch where the _Darwinius_ watched him, curiously. "They obviously haven't seen anything like me before," Michael continued. "I don't smell like a predator, so they want to see who's come to visit them. Hello!"

In his fascination, Michael hadn't noticed that the noise of insects had ceased.

Instead, he looked at the velvety brown and white mottled fur they sported, and their quick movements. "They look just like any other small primate you might see," he said, "but it's so profound knowing that you're standing next to an animal that means so much for your own species. Now, how am I going to catch them?"

Before he could answer his own question, a squawking, warbling call echoed in the jungle, and the two _Darwinius_ scurried up the tree. Michael whipped around with his flashlight, recognizing the noise. "Up a tree, quick!" he said, turning off his flashlight, and scrambled into the closest tree, climbing as high as he could. "Shhh!"

From underneath him, lit faintly by the light of the moon, the _Gastornis_ stepped softly and carefully. It was turning its head, smelling the air with its open beak. Michael didn't make a sound.

The enormous bird continued to hover around under the tree, unsettlingly long, before moving off to another part of the jungle. It was a full fifteen minutes before Michael started to stir.

"So much for the _Darwinius_," he said, clearly dejected. "Come on, let's head back to the campsite. I need some sleep."

Michael started walking back, hanging his head in a disappointed way.

**In Prehistoric Park, Norman is having problems of his own.**

Bathed in the morning light, Norman stood at the door of a metal trailer. "Keep at it, boys!" he said, and wiped his brow. "Well, Ned's quite alright. Catherine went and confirmed that he was a male, so I'm happy for that. Now all we have to do is get him back to his paddock. That's easier said than done, mind you. He's decided to do his old stop-and-drop trick right in the trailer. I'll be back," he said, and disappeared into the trailer.

"Come on, Ned, up! I've got some nice tasty flowers for you if you head back in…come on now, up!" There were two loud bangs, and the trailer rocked back and forth. "Oi! Stop that! Come on now, let's go!"

Ned ran out of the trailer and back into his paddock. "There you are! Good boy!" Norman said, and walked out. "Alright guys, let's get this out of here!" he said. Suddenly his walkie-talkie buzzed. "Norman? Got a bit of a dilemma up here by the hadros, can you come down?"

"What is it, Charles?"

"Well, to be honest, there's a coelosaur up a tree."

Norman paused bemusedly before replying "Alright, I'll be right down. Over and out." He put the walkie-talkie back. "Oh boy," he sighed, and got into his Jeep.

Within minutes, he was next to the _Hadrosaurus_ enclosure and in the door. "It's over back there," Charles pointed him, and Norman walked along the paddock fence to the tree.

The tree itself was leaning over to one side, and that had apparently allowed the _Coelosaurus_ to clamber up. Except now, it was stuck up there.

"Alright…what am I going to do with you…" Norman said. "How on earth did he get himself up there?" he muttered to himself.

It was then that he noticed the tree was leaning dangerously close to the top of the fence. Immediately, he started climbing up the tree himself after the ornithomimid. "Okay, come on down, you're perfectly alright…" Norman was quite precariously positioned and imbalanced on the tree branch.

Seeing Norman coming towards it and the paddock fence nearby, the dinosaur decided to take the option of jumping the fence.

It leapt over the fence top and landed on the other side flawlessly, but the recoil of the tree branch threw Norman off and onto the ground. With a yelp, he landed. Norman had braced himself and he was perfectly alright excepting a few smudges of dirt, but now he had an escaped dinosaur to worry about…

He ran back to his Jeep and shouted at all of the staff who were nearby. "Get in the Jeeps! Herd it back into the paddock! Come on!"

Park keepers ran into their cars and started the engines, driving off to find the _Coelosaurus_. Norman led the convoy.

"There he is! Get in front of it! Drive him back towards the paddock!" Norman shouted.

The _Coelosaurus_ screeched and started to run, but a Jeep drove in front of it, blocking its path. Instead, it veered to the side.

"Come on! Get it herded! This way!"

Eventually, the dinosaur was barricaded from three sides, and the only way it could run was back through the open door of the paddock. A keeper waiting nearby jumped to close and latch the door. For now, things were under control again.

Inside his Jeep, Norman was panting. "Well…" he gasped, "…that was a bit exciting, I suppose. Whew. There's never a minute's rest in this place. Alright guys, let's clear out. We're done over here for now."

**While Norman cleans up, Terry is over at the **_**Dryptosaurus**_** paddock.**

Terry put away his walkie-talkie. "Well, one of the _Coelosaurus_ apparently decided to take a stroll," he said. "At least it keeps Norman busy."

He was watching the _Dryptosaurus_ from a small walkway. The pack was devouring a cow, and seemed to be enjoying it.

**The pack of **_**Dryptosaurus**_** was rescued after Michael and Terry caught a whole herd of hadrosaurs. Seeing that their preferred prey was gone, they instead went for the humans. Thankfully, Michael escaped their grasp as he went through the time portal, and the now the pack is living in its new home.**

"These guys, though, are keeping _me_ busy," Terry said. "A lot comes to mind. Take their food, for instance. So far we've been giving them recently killed cows, and they like them. But I remember that when we first found them, I saw them stalking and hunting their prey. They weren't being offered their food on a silver platter. So we might have to change what we feed the dryptosaurs at some point. Granted, if you offered me a free pizza, I'd eat it too. But it's hardly the same as hunting your prey."

The _Dryptosaurus_ continued to gulp down strips of meat. One of them pulled at the cow's leg, attempting to tear it apart from the rest of the body.

"I guess my point is we still have a lot to learn about these creatures," Terry admitted. "They're not exactly like reptiles, and they're not exactly like birds either. Trial and error might determine what works best and what doesn't. But I'm sure the staff can handle that, no problem."

He leaned on the walkway's railing. "Getting the animals to breed is another of our top priorities. From the start, it was always Michael's goal to raise a thriving population of extinct animals. The trick is getting them to feel safe and comfortable, just like they are in the wild. And I think Prehistoric Park is ready to accept that challenge."

Terry stood and watched the dinosaurs eat.

**Back in the Eocene, Michael is still planning to catch more creatures.**

Michael sat at the campsite, drinking from his water bottle. "The _Darwinius_ seem to be nocturnal, so there's no sense in looking for them now," he said. "Instead, I'm going to try and lure in some other denizens of the forest."

He picked up a piece of fruit lying on the ground, which was like a durian except much smaller. "I noticed that the _Propalaeotherium_, those primitive horses we saw yesterday, like to eat fallen fruit. If we bait an area of forest with lots of this fruit, they should come and take advantage of the banquet. From there we may be able to catch them, possibly driving them through the time portal."

Michael sipped at his water bottle. "To be honest, I wasn't planning to catch _Propalaeotherium_, but they are very gentle creatures, and it might be nice to have them at the park. Plus, it's something to do while we wait for night to fall."

Suddenly, the ground started to rumble, shaking branches in the trees, and Michael could feel small tremors. Other crew members looked around them, curiously. Michael leapt to his feet, but the sensation passed as quickly as it had come. A few leaves floated down to the forest floor.

"That was close," Michael said. "It was just a small tremor, set off by volcanic activity, and it wouldn't harm us at all. But I can't tell what it would take to release the carbon dioxide gas in those ponds," he said. "I hadn't felt any tremors previously, but the fact that they're happening now leads me to believe it might happen again. We want creatures, but personal safety is ultimately more important."

He picked up his backpack. "It's a shame to leave, but I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary with the risk of the gas around," Michael said. "We'll wait until night, make one last search for the _Darwinius_, and then leave."

**Time seems to be running out for the team, and if they want to rescue a **_**Darwinius**_**, they have to do it tonight.**

Michael was in the jungle with a couple other team members. The rest were back at camp, waiting for Michael's return and to set up the time portal.

"It's now or never," Michael said as bats flew in and out of his flashlight beam. "We can't get distracted by any other creature while we're out here. I don't want to return to Prehistoric Park without a _Darwinius_."

"Michael, look!"

His flashlight focused on a tree, and something seemed to shift in the light of the beam. They had stopped near the pond, which was visible off to the side. Bats continued to dart around in the air. "What was it, Dennis?"

"I thought I saw something moving there," Dennis said.

"If it's not a _Darwinius_, let's not bother," Michael said. He was about to move on when he saw it for himself.

From behind the tree trunk, one, then two animals crawled into view. They had velvety fur and long tails.

Michael froze instantly. "Dennis," he whispered. "Get behind that tree. Make a wide arc so they don't see you. You'll know what to do." He clutched at the handle of the plastic case he held.

Dennis disappeared into the jungle, and Michael slowly started to approach the tree. The two _Darwinius_ behaved exactly as they had the previous night, watching him intently and curiously.

Michael stood right next to the tree and the two primates on the tree trunk. They scurried up to a low-hanging branch, making some sort of squeaking sound. Michael could see Dennis creeping up behind the branch, and proceeded to hold up the plastic case. Slowly, he opened the door.

The two _Darwinius_ watched him, turning their heads. This was certainly a funny creature with the beam of light, and it behaved oddly.

Michael nodded at Dennis.

And suddenly, Dennis lunged forward, spooking the _Darwinius_. They jumped in the opposite direction…right into Michael's plastic case.

One tail, two tails, and Michael slammed the wire door of the case shut. "Yes!" he said with glee. "Finally! A pair of _Darwinius_!"

Abruptly, a tremor shook the ground, and Michael was thrown off his feet. He spun around in mid-air to catch the plastic case as it fell, and then landed with a painful thump. He righted himself instantly, to check the surface of the pond.

Numerous aftershocks followed the initial tremor, making it difficult to focus on any one object. But Michael could clearly see the dead bat floating on the surface of the pond, and then more of its kind around it. It was what he had feared.

**Clouds of carbon dioxide gas can prove fatal, as the Lake Nyos incident did. And the team doesn't want to be around to breathe one in.**

"The ponds have outgassed!" Michael shouted to everyone in range. "_Move_, guys!" And they fled.

They reached the campsite in mere minutes, and Michael shouted, "Carbon dioxide gas is coming! Pack up and get the portal ready! Quickly!"

Around them, animals panicked. Bats darted among the trees, and several smaller mammals on the ground scurried for safety. They understood the danger, and were taking the easy route out.

The portal flared into life, and the crew members carrying animals were allowed in first. Michael handed the _Darwinius_ to Dennis and shouted, "You guys head through first! I'll bring up the rear!" Michael could see some of the panicked animals around them dart through the portal. Normally he would have been ecstatic, but he did not care about them at the moment.

Michael made sure everyone had gone in as the last remaining person ran through the portal. He braced himself to run through when suddenly, a familiar creature ran from the trees and skidded to a stop in front of him, squawking and flapping its feathers.

Michael tried not to panic. "It's the _Gastornis_," he said, attempting to breathe normally. "It's just scared at the moment, not hunting. But it's blocking my way."

And then, despite the danger surrounding him, his face lit up in realization. "And maybe that's a good thing! Come on, I'm coming through!"

He ran at the _Gastornis_, which squawked and ran, startled, away from Michael. And in that case, "away" was straight into the time portal.

**This time, Michael may have rescued more animals than he thought he would…**

Norman stood atop the walkway watching the first of Michael's team members come through carrying plastic cases. Around their feet, a couple more animals ran through.

"Well, nice parade you've got there," Norman shouted to the team as he watched them head into the holding pen areas and, making the best of the situation, put the loose animals into a nearby pen.

"I'm glad Michael's decided to bring back a few sensible things." Norman looked up. "Where is he, anyway? He didn't come in-"

Norman was interrupted when he saw a giant bipedal bird storm through the time portal, squawking and shaking its feathers. It was followed by an enthusiastic Michael.

"Michael, what the devil have you done now?!" Norman shouted. "I expect you to bring home a couple of monkeys and instead you end up with a giant parrot!"

Michael laughed. "It was either this or getting suffocated by a dangerous cloud of carbon dioxide gas!"

"That doesn't give you a decent excuse!"

Deciding to end the conversation there, Michael hurried over to Dennis as a couple other keepers attempted to shoo the _Gastornis_ into another holding pen. "Michael!" Dennis said. "We brought a couple of other animals back for you!"

"I thought I saw that as you guys hurried in, they were probably trying to escape the gas. What did you find?"

"As best I could see, a couple of _Propalaeotherium_ and a _Leptictidium_, I think."

"Not bad!" Michael said. "Well, this turned out better that I thought it would!"

**Soon, all the animals are moved into tropical paddocks. The **_**Lepticitidium**_** and **_**Propalaeotherium**_** will live together, while the other creatures brought back will live in their own enclosures alone. The **_**Titanomyrma**_**, for the time being, will be put into a glass insectarium in another park building. As for the **_**Darwinius**_**…**

Michael was in his study, admiring the newly constructed cage against the wall. It was tall and imitated a tropical environment. From within, the two _Darwinius_ scurried about in the branches, playing with each other. Michael watched in fascination.

"There's a reason they're called _Darwinius_," Michael said as he watched. "Their discovery was announced in the year that Darwin would be celebrating his 200th birthday. And they're also a grand triumph for evolution. So I'm going to name these two Charles and Emma, just to carry on a bit of tradition."

One of the primates clambered up to the glass and watched the odd creature outside. Michael grinned, and went up closer to the enclosure. Face to face, the two are the bookends of a very old family.

**Next time...**

**Michael travels back to the Permian in order to rescue some sail-backed oddities.**

A herd of lizard-like animals with sails on their backs walks in a wet grassland.

**And the park staff has their hands full, again.**

Seen from the back seat, a _Dryptosaurus_ pursues a speeding Jeep.

**In the meantime, Michael has time to enjoy a very old aunt and uncle.**

* * *

_Well, that's Episode 2 in the bag :) Is anyone excited for the next chapter? I know I am. The same things that applied to reviews and questions for the previous chapter apply here too._

_I know that the ol' cloud-of-carbon-dioxide-gas-trick has been done before in the original Prehistoric Park, but you can't really write about the Messel Pit without tipping the hat to such a theory. In any case, it was fun to write._

_You wouldn't believe the amount of googling I had to do in order to research material for this chapter, particularly for sexing the nodosaur. Several obscure scientific papers and blog posts later, and I believe I have lost all my dignity._

_Anyway, here's the big list:_

**_1.2 Leptictidium  
Approx. 40 Titanomyrma  
1.0 Ambulocetus  
2.2 Propalaeotherium  
0.1 Gastornis  
1.1 Darwinius_**

_Additional animals encountered:_

**_Allaeochelys (turtle)  
Eurotamandua (anteater)  
Paleochiropteryx (bat)_**

_See you next time..._


	3. The Sailbacks

_Crimson Clockwork needs your help! Yes, that's right, I'm calling for suggestions from this story's readers and followers. I know what creatures are going to feature in the next couple episodes (and some episodes leading up to the finale) but otherwise, I'm open to suggestions of creatures or places that you might want to see in upcoming episodes. If I like your ideas, I'll probably use them! If you suggest something that I already have planned, then, well, I won't tell anybody ;)_

_Anyway, SORRY for not updating in so long. I'm really busy and this chapter took me forever to write. But I hope that it was worth the wait :)_

* * *

**We live in a very strange world. Over ninety-nine percent of the species that ever lived on our planet are now extinct. But what if we could save them? What if we could bring them back to our own world?**

**Join biologist Michael Emerson as he travels back in time to meet animals that have never existed for millions of years. He will save them from extinction and take them into the present day to give them a second chance.**

**This time, Michael travels to the Permian in order to rescue some reptilian oddities with sails on their backs.**

**Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome…to Prehistoric Park!**

Michael sat as his desk in his study, which was even messier than usual. He filled out a line and some notebook paper and then put the sheet aside. "It's hard to finish your work when your office is a room full of animals," he said. "Especially when it contains some extinct ones."

He looked over towards the enclosure containing Charles and Emma the _Darwinius_, who were scampering about happily.

**Michael rescued the two **_**Darwinius**_** from the Eocene of Germany, where a deadly cloud of carbon dioxide gas was sweeping through the forest. They came back to Prehistoric Park unscathed – along with a couple other unexpected guests.**

"But work can wait," Michael continued, "regardless of distractions, because today I'm off to rescue the next creatures. This time I've picked one of my personal favorites!"

Michael went to the bookshelf at the other side of the room, stepping over the tortoise that inhabited his study, and pulled out a heavy-looking tome. He flipped through a couple of pages before stopping. "Here we are," he said to himself, and turned the book around. The double-page spread showed a skeleton of an animal that looked vaguely like a toothy lizard, except for the long spines on its back.

"Despite what many people believe, this creature isn't a dinosaur," Michael said. "This is _Dimetrodon_, a type of synapsid. They were more closely related to mammals than to any dinosaur. There are quite a few interesting things about this animal, but the most obvious of course is the numerous spines on its back. They supported a large membranous sail, unlike anything seen today!"

Michael turned a page, showing the creature's environment. "_Dimetrodon_ lived all over the Early Permian Period, but I'm heading back precisely 298 million years to Texas in order to find some. There were a lot in that area, and I figure that I'll have a good chance of catching one or two there."

He closed the book and returned it to the shelf. "There are many species of _Dimetrodon_ that have been found, but naturally, I'm looking for the biggest. _Dimetrodon grandis_ grew up to 15 feet long, and probably had an attitude to match. That's the part I'm not going to be telling Norman," Michael chuckled.

As if on cue, Michael's walkie-talkie crackled. "Michael, can you meet me down at the dryptosaur paddock?" Norman's voice asked.

"Be right there," Michael said. And he walked out of the study.

They met up at the paddock under the morning sun, and Michael pulled the key out of the Jeep's ignition as Norman walked up to him. "The pack seems a bit restless," Norman said.

"How so?"

"Well, they're just standing about in the open making a big racket. They usually stay hidden. I can't see what's wrong with them, if there is something."

"Well, keep an eye on them," Michael said, "because I'm off to catch the next creatures for Prehistoric Park!"

"Oh boy. Well, what are you after this time?" Norman sighed.

"_Dimetrodon_. It's sort of like a big sail-backed lizard. I'm travelling to the Permian to find one."

"Uh-huh. Well, good luck. Come back in one piece," Norman said.

"I'll try," Michael laughed, and walked away.

At the time portal area, he met up with his team, who was waiting with all the supplies. "Let's go," Michael said, and they went on through.

The team arrived in an open lowland, with mountains visible in the distance. Above the land, the sun was ascending into the sky, and morning dew still clung to the abundant plant life. A stream flowed past the portal, out of the mountains and off into the distance. Aside from the chirping of insects and the sound of the wind, it was silent.

Michael put his backpack down. "This is fascinating," he said. "It's very wet here, and the whole area reminds me of the pampas of South America. Of course, there's no grass here – that won't evolve for more than 200 million years. But there are lots of low-growing plants to take its place." He turned to his team. "Right, let's get the campsite set up now, while we have time. I don't expect any reptiles to be active yet, because they need a bit of time to warm themselves up."

The crew pinned down their tents as Michael organized his own supplies from his pack. "For now, I guess we just have to wait."

**With nothing else to do, Michael is getting rather bored. But thankfully, his first surprise of the day soon arrives.**

Michael sipped some water from his bottle as he sat at the edge of the campsite. Flipping the top closed, he picked his binoculars up and continued to scan the horizon, looking for any activity like he had been doing all morning.

Suddenly, he stood up and said "Hold on, what's that…"

Coming towards the campsite was a herd of animals. They looked rather like large, blue-gray lizards, and had a distinctive pinkish-red sail on their backs. And there were quite a few of them.

"Amazing!" Michael exclaimed. "This isn't _Dimetrodon_, even though they have sails on their backs. It seems that many Permian animals also had this feature, carnivores and herbivores alike. And these are herbivores, a herd of _Edaphosaurus_!"

Some of the _Edaphosaurus_ bellowed as they got close to the campsite. "I think I know what they're doing," Michael said. "They've probably just finished warming themselves up, and now the herd is looking for a meal. We've camped next to a grove of bushes, so that's probably what they want for breakfast."

Indeed, as the herd reached the bushes, they dispersed and starting picking at the leaves. "Paleontologists have found several species of _Edaphosaurus_, just like they have with _Dimetrodon_," Michael said, "and they can be distinguished by the shape of their sail. From what I've read, I think these are _Edaphosaurus pogonias_, which was the first species described."

Eventually, the herd ate their fill, and started moving off. Michael grabbed his backpack. "I'm off to see where they're headed," he said. "Keep a lookout for other creatures, guys, OK?"

With that, Michael set off, following the _Edaphosaurus_ from behind.

**Meanwhile, back at Prehistoric Park, change is in the air – in more ways than one.**

Norman stood watching the _Dryptosaurus_, who were roaring and pacing about in the open. "I just haven't the slightest what's gotten into them," he sighed. "I've called Catherine in to give them a quick lookover, but I'm still fairly worried. If they keep being this aggressive, they might start injuring each other, getting a bit feisty with the keepers, or even breaking out of the paddock. So I'm concerned."

A Jeep pulled up to the side of the fence, and Catherine walked out. "So what's the trouble?" she asked.

"Well, the pack is just restless. They're being very noisy and milling about in the sun," Norman said, as they walked towards the fence. "I'm hoping you can provide a bit of insight."

Two of the dryptosaurs were particularly restless. The staff had identified an alpha male and female within the pack since they were rescued. Generally, the alphas led the group of dinosaurs and settled any disputes between them. But today, things were different.

"Norman, do you see their arms?" Catherine asked. "They've changed a bit since the dinosaurs arrived."

"Now that you mention it, yes," Norman said, and peered in for a closer look. The side of their arms had changed colors slightly, and had a rougher texture. "What does that mean?"

"I've seen the same sort of changes happen with birds when they're molting, and growing a new coat of feathers," Catherine said. "A lot of birds also get moody during that period. So maybe the pack is starting to grow feathers on their arms. I don't know why, it could just be a seasonal change, or something else along those lines."

"Interesting," Norman nodded. "When are they going to, well – _resume_ their normal behavior?

"I don't know. It's hard to say. After all, these are some of the first dinosaurs the world has ever seen."

The alpha male dryptosaur looked at the two humans from across the clearing and snarled. "Um, Catherine," Norman stuttered, "I think it's best that we get going, before they start getting angry at us…"

They climbed into the Jeep and drove away, as the alpha male charged right up to the edge of the paddock fence and roared at them.

**Back in the Permian, Michael's not the only one following the herd of **_**Edaphosaurus**_**.**

As the herd trundled on through the valley, Michael moved behind them at a steady pace. "I wonder where they're going," he said. "It's a possibility that they may be moving to another feeding ground, and that means we might find other creatures there as well. For now, we just have to keep up with the herd."

The _Edaphosaurus_ moved closer to the river, funneled in by an area of long grass. A few animals stopped to lap at the water, making contented grunting noises as they did.

Suddenly, the long grass rustled, and the lead animal raised its head to look at the disturbance. Before it could utter a cry of alarm, another sail-backed animal leapt from the cycads and snarled. It was colored a muddy green-yellow with a bright red sail. There was a distinctive, discolored scar above its left eye. Immediately, the herd of _Edaphosaurus_ bellowed in fear and started running.

Michael darted behind a nearby tree. "It's a _Dimetrodon_!" he shouted, "And it's attacking the herd!"

Sail-backed bodies scattered, trampling ferns and splashing water. The _Dimetrodon_ momentarily hesitated, choosing a target, before deciding on a juvenile animal panicking in the river. It ran after the youngster while Michael watched.

Seeing the predator, the juvenile _Edaphosaurus _struggled even more in the river, but its energy was wasted as it started being swept away with the current. Soon enough, the _Dimetrodon_ descended upon it and bit at folds of flesh. The water slowly turned red with blood. The youngster gave a final squeal as its attacker finally bit through the animal's neck, silencing it for good.

Michael continued to watch the spectacle from afar. He was amazed at the _Dimetrodon_'s attack strategies, but at the same time felt sorry for the poor _Edaphosaurus_.

After killing the juvenile, the _Dimetrodon_ swam back across the river with the animal in its mouth. After clambering out of the water, it set the carcass down on the ground and began uttering a deep, grunting cry that echoed throughout the landscape.

"I wonder what it's doing," Michael whispered from behind the tree. "For some reason, the _Dimetrodon_ hasn't eaten its kill yet. I don't know why it's making that noise, either…"

He stood up. "I'd like to see more," he continued to whisper, "but I'm in a bit of a vulnerable position. I certainly don't want to be spotted here – that _Dimetrodon_ is too fast for my liking. For now we'd better head off and let him be."

Michael moved away from the area, leaving the _Dimetrodon_ to continue making that strange call.

**Back at the park, the staff is taking care of the daily chores.**

Terry walked down the path with a young, black-haired man towards the _Ambulocetus_ paddock. The man's name was Owen, and he was one of the newer recruits to the park staff. He was carrying an insulated cooler and a long, hooked pole.

They reached the fence, and Terry unlocked the paddock door to get in. Amongst the trees, there was a large pond in the middle of the paddock. Both men kept their distance from the water.

"You have the rabbit?" Terry asked, and Owen nodded. "Thankfully, it's easy to get rabbits frozen in bulk these days. Otherwise we'd be feeding the _Ambulocetus_ a heck of a lot of mice."

Owen pulled out a rabbit from the cooler and hooked it around the end of the pole. "Alright, lower it in there," Terry directed, and the rabbit descended to the water's edge.

Nothing happened, so Owen gently splashed the rabbit against the water's surface. A swell of water began to appear from the other side of the pond, and moved towards the source of the splashing.

Abruptly, the long, furry head of the _Ambulocetus_ leapt from the water, causing a large splash, and grabbed the rabbit from the pole. It hovered at the surface momentarily with its food in its mouth before diving down into the pond again.

"Good job," Terry said. "Okay, let's go deal with the _Gastornis_ now." Terry and Owen gathered their supplies and departed for the bird's enclosure.

At the other side of the park, Catherine was watching the herd of hadrosaurs and ornithimimids grazing.

**Michael rescued the herd of **_**Hadrosaurus**_** and **_**Coelosaurus**_** from the Cretaceous period by fooling them into stampeding through the time portal. They now live here at the park, where they continue to live together without worries.**

"I've been thinking about the problems with the dryptosaur pack," Catherine said, looking out over the lake. "Terry thinks that they might be angry due to the lack of live prey. We'll see if that holds water, but I don't like the idea of feeding one of the hadrosaurs to them. They're beautiful creatures."

She started walking back towards her Jeep. "I suppose it might just be a seasonal change. It's not uncommon for animals to get mood swings at certain times of the year. I think it's best to just watch them for now, and wait to see what happens."

Catherine climbed into the car and drove off, taking a last glance at the herd of happy hadrosaurs.

**Back in the Permian, Michael is about to find something very interesting and unexpected.**

Michael brushed aside a couple of large ferns to reveal a small pond. The water was very muddy, and the pond seemed to be drying out. "Come look what I've found," Michael whispered.

At the water line, three animals about a meter long were soaking in the pond. Like most of the animals that Michael had seen so far, they had sails on their backs. However, they were rather pudgy, had large heads, and had shiny skin.

"These are some very odd creatures," Michael whispered, "and I didn't expect to find them there. These are _Platyhystrix_, a type of sail-backed amphibian!"

One of the _Platyhystrix_ blinked and looked Michael in the eye. However, it was not bothered to move at all. The two others also remained still, apparently indifferent to this strange, two-legged creature's excitement.

"I would love to take these back to Prehistoric Park," Michael said. "I'm just wondering how I'm going to get them to move…"

He set up the portal sticks, making sure the accompanying remote was in hand. "I'll try to wade into the pond and get them out of the water first," Michael said, "but we'll see if they cooperate!"

As soon as Michael stepped into the water, the _Platyhystrix_ barked and scurried out of the water. With a peculiar waddle they started moving away from Michael and the portal. "Can't let them get away!" Michael said, and jumped in front of the animals, driving them in the other direction.

After a brief frenzy, the sail-backed amphibians organized themselves and started moving in the right direction. The portal blazed into life, and they waddled through.

"Norman's going to get a bit of a surprise!" Michael said, and followed suit.

At the park itself, Norman was watching the portal intently. "Keep an eye out," he shouted to the staff nearby. "If I know Michael, he's probably caught something large and toothy!"

Almost on cue, the three _Platyhystrix_ waddled through the time portal. Norman peered at them, curiously. "Eh?"

Then, Michael arrived through the portal. "Merry Christmas!" he yelled to Norman. "Do you like them?"

"Well Michael, I'll admit that I didn't expect you to bring back something like this…whatever they are!"

Michael smiled. "Well, I'm sure you can figure out what to do with them," he said, and then walked back through the portal to the Permian.

Norman started climbing down the walkway to the holding pens. "I guess I'll grab a couple of dog crates and keep them in there until we figure out where to put them," he said, and headed off.

**Soon, Michael has returned to the task of finding the **_**Dimetrodon**_**.**

Michael passed through a small grove of trees nestled within the pampas. "So far, my efforts to catch a _Dimetrodon_ haven't worked very well," he said, "so I'm going to try a different strategy. Many types of lizard behave this way in the present, so I'm hoping it will happen here, as well."

He sat down in the cycads and, after making himself comfortable among the buzzing of insects, waited.

After a while, there was a rustling in the grass, and a small, sail-backed creature scampered into view. It sniffed the air and then scurried up the trunk of a gnarly tree to perch on a branch.

Michael started moving slowly towards the tree. "Juvenile Komodo dragons have been known to hide in the trees to avoid being eaten by their larger counterparts," he whispered, "and now it seems we know _Dimetrodon_ does the same. I just need to get close enough to grab him…and hope that I don't get nipped, naturally."

As he approached, the baby _Dimetrodon_ watched him curiously, cocking its head and squeaking. It was duller and more camouflaged than the adult that appeared earlier.

Suddenly, there was a loud bellow from an animal, and the baby leapt high up into the tree branches. Disgruntled, Michael turned towards the source of the noise, and was met with quite a shock as the scaly equivalent of a buffalo barreled past him. He jumped aside to avoid being flattened by the giant, and saw that it was leading a small herd of its kind. Their destination wasn't exactly clear, but they were moving very fast.

"_Diadectes_!" Michael shouted. "And they're scared about something!"

**Many times, Michael has learned that when big animals are frightened, you might want to be concerned as well.**

Michael looked towards the tail end of the herd. With a savage snarl, the scarred _Dimetrodon_ from earlier appeared, trailing the herd of _Diadectes_ from behind.

Thinking quickly, Michael started running. "This might work, but I've got to be faster than the herd first!" he yelled as he ran.

With great effort, he finally made enough ground on the herd, enough to see where they would be heading. Michael gasped for breath. "It looks like…that the Dimetrodon will…will chase them in here," he wheezed, pointing towards a canyon-like feature in the ground. "Direct them into this…valley thing here. And I think that…I want to catch two types of bird with one stone!"

Quickly, he set up the time portal. As he heard the thundering of dozens of feet coming from ahead, he switched the portal on and hoped for the best. Then, the herd funneled in and ran through the swirl of blue and purple.

**Back in the park, Norman is about to witness the arrival of yet more unexpected arrivals.**

The Jeep screeched to a halt next to the holding pens. "I had to be quick to get here in time!" Norman said rather hurriedly before slamming the door of the car and hurrying up to the staircase.

But he could ascend, a giant gray reptilian herd barreled through the time portal, pushing each other out of the way as they ran to the holding pens. Norman skidded to a halt in front of the fence.

"But…what the blazes…Michael, what have you done now?!"

**Michael may be ecstatic about his unexpected rescue, but now he is in very serious trouble. Apparently, one of his targets isn't convinced by the time portal very much.**

As the last of the _Diadectes_ was transported through the portal, their _Dimetrodon_ pursuer suddenly stopped. It turned its head to gaze at the curious spectacle before it, and blinked.

Michael stood nearby, waiting tensely. "Come on…will you go through?" he said softly more or less to himself.

But the _Dimetrodon_ didn't. It backed away, disgruntled at having lost its prey, and then turned towards Michael. It growled menacingly.

"Er, _run!_" Michael shouted, and dashed away in the opposite direction. With a harsh hiss, the _Dimetrodon_ ran after him.

Puffing as he ran, Michael jumped up into a nearby tree and clambered up into the branches as fast as he could. The _Dimetrodon_ was on his tail, and no sooner had Michael ascended that the creature roared up into the tree and attempted to claw its way up after him. But its efforts were futile, only succeeding in scratching the tree up. It growled in defeat, and then turned away and disappeared into the long ferns.

Up in the branches, Michael looked around cautiously, and let out a deep breath he had been holding.

**Luckily for Michael, bigger **_**Dimetrodon**_** can't climb trees.**

After brushing himself off, Michael came down from the tree and headed back towards the campsite.

**Meanwhile at Prehistoric Park, some of the staff members are excited to see what Michael has brought home, while certain others are complaining about the new residents.**

Terry climbed up the metal staircase to meet up with Norman, who was standing on the walkway over a holding pen. Obviously, there was a new arrival.

"Well?" Terry asked, looking down into the pen. "What do you think?" he said to Norman.

"What do I _think_?" Norman replied. "I think that Michael's brought back half a dozen scaly cows, _that's_ what I think."

Below them, the herd of _Diadectes_ was milling about, apparently calmed from their ordeal. "Where am I going to put them all?" Norman moaned. "At this rate, we'll be taking in creatures faster than we can build enclosures!"

Terry smiled. "Don't feel bad about that, they might pay you more if you can keep up with the demand."

Norman sighed. "Look…I've got so much work to do already, and…would you be able to help direct them into a permanent paddock? I need to get back to the workshop."

"Sure, whatever you need," Terry said, and pulled out his walkie-talkie to radio for a vehicle team.

Norman departed down the staircase. "All these new creatures are giving me a headache," he grumbled, and climbed into his Jeep. "Best not to think about it at the moment." He slipped the key into the ignition and drove off to his workshop.

"What I was trying to do," he began, "before I was called over to the portal, was finding a home for the _Platyhystrix_ that Michael brought back. Honestly, I'd never heard of them before, but Catherine gave me all the basics on them. Since they're a bit like frogs, I figured they'd need a wetter habitat. And I'd pretty much decided where they would go when I had to leave."

Norman drove up next to a paddock with low fences. It was wet and grassy inside, and a small waterhole sat in the middle of the enclosure. Mist billowed out at one corner of the paddock from a fog machine. Several large, black tortoises lumbered about inside.

"It was a bit too much trouble at the moment to build an entirely new paddock, especially if it was just for the _Platyhystrix_. So I decided to put them in with the Galapagos tortoises. They live in the same sort of climate, and I think they'll get along well." Norman continued driving, up to a small, shabby-looking building. "Now I just have to get them inside," he said. He got out of the Jeep and entered his workshop.

Norman's workshop was a messy place, even more so than Michael's study. It was more like a gazebo than an actual building with walls. Mechanical parts and papers were strewn about on the desks, with planks of wood, hammers, and houseplants scattered randomly around the room. Boxes of supplies were crammed into the shelves. A miserable-looking swivel chair sat next to one of the desks.

"Now, all we have to do is…oh god." Norman stared at the plastic dog crates that he had left the _Platyhystrix_ in earlier. There was nothing inside. "I think I forgot to latch the crates…"

Immediately, he started lifting away boxes and stacks of paper. "That means they're loose in here somewhere!" he said, starting to panic.

Norman shoved away the disorganized mess on his desks, sending it onto the floor where the piles spilled everywhere. Although the desks were now relatively clean, he was still empty-handed. "Why," he mumbled to himself, "why me?"

Suddenly, he heard a squeaking sound coming from one of the shelves. Removing a folder, he found one of the _Platyhystrix_ sitting there. To make matters worse, it seemed to be smiling at him.

Norman lunged for it, but it dashed to the side behind a pile of office supplies. Frustrated, Norman began throwing items off the shelves in an attempt to reveal the escapee, but the _Platyhystrix_ was always one step ahead of him, jumping from shelf to shelf. Eventually, it scooted down to join the other two animals, who were hiding behind the snakeplant.

After rummaging viciously through the shelves, Norman spotted the three animals, and made a leap for them. However, he slipped on a box of pens, and the fairly large lump of a lad landed on the only remaining patch of bare floor with a loud thump. Abruptly, the _Platyhystrix_ scurried out of the workshop.

Raising his head to look at the creatures departing with an air of smugness, Norman rolled his eyes and, after getting himself up, dashed after them.

**While Norman takes care of the mischievous **_**Platyhystrix**_**, Michael and his team are bedding down for the day. But the morning brings greater hope and, if things go well, a chance to catch the troublesome **_**Dimetrodon**_**.**

The sun was rising in the Permian sky, and Michael's team was waking up. Michael himself was sitting in front of the campfire, wearing a sweatshirt and cooking breakfast.

"I've got to keep an eye on the fire," he said. "You could say this atmosphere favors fire." Michael chuckled to himself. "But I can hope the wet grass will keep it from doing much if it ever gets out of the fire pit."

He stretched his legs. "I've been thinking about the _Dimetrodon_ from yesterday," Michael yawned. "It seemed like it was very territorial. Remember when it killed that _Edaphosaurus_ and didn't eat it? That gets me wondering. Maybe it's the breeding season, and that was a male Dimetrodon trying to impress a female. But we'll see if that holds true today."

Michael smiled, enjoying the fresh air. However, he started peering at something in the ferns in front of him. "What's that?"

He moved forward, and found an orange, lizard-like creature with a bulb-shaped head sitting in the grass. It made no move to escape, but instead looked back at Michael cautiously. "I think I know what this is," Michael said softly, so he would not scare it away. "I'm fairly sure that this is _Labidosaurus_, an animal that was part of the earliest family of reptiles. Interesting…"

Michael continued watching the creature. "It would be nice to take this back to Prehistoric Park," he said, "but I kind of want to focus my efforts on finding a Dimetrodon. Besides, Norman will probably kill me if I bring back anything else unexpected. So I'll just leave this little guy be." He walked back to the campsite, leaving the _Labidosaurus_ behind.

**Later that morning, Michael strikes gold.**

A couple hours later, Michael was back out searching in the wilderness. "If my suspicions hold true, it won't be long before the scarred male _Dimetrodon_ shows up again. He won't be happy to see a certain intruder in his territory again. But until then…"

Brushing away a patch of particularly high ferns, Michael saw a large dirt mound ahead. "Hold it," he said, and stopped. Then, he lowered himself down in the ferns, trying to be inconspicuous.

"I'm pretty sure that's a nest of some sort," he whispered. "And if it's by itself and that large, I think I can see what made that nest." Michael considered the implications. "With luck, we might be able to bring back a couple of _Dimetrodon_ eggs to Prehistoric Park."

Before Michael could make a move, a small reptilian creature appeared by the nest. It sniffed at the mound cautiously, and then looked around. "That looks like some sort of labyrinthodont amphibian," Michael whispered. "Could be a _Seymouria_ or something similar, but I can't tell. But I've got a bad feeling…"

After sniffing the nest some more, the labyrinthodont started digging into the imposing mound before it. Soon enough, it emerged with egg yolk in its mouth, confirming Michael's unspoken fears.

Suddenly, there was a loud roar, and another _Dimetrodon_ burst into view. However, this one was much thinner than the male, and looked very weak. "That must be the mother," Michael whispered, retreating further into the ferns. "She's been withholding food from herself so she can stay by the eggs and protect them. Too late this time though…"

Immediately, the labyrinthodont scurried away, dashing over a hillside to escape. Abruptly, from that same hillside, there was a roar and a shrill squeal. Michael turned towards the source of the sound, curious. "What…"

The scarred male _Dimetrodon_ stepped calmly over the hillside, with the labyrinthodont in his mouth. He walked over towards the nest and dropped the carcass in front of the female, who backed away.

"That scarred male is back – and it looks like he's trying to impress the female," Michael whispered. "But I can tell she can't do anything in that condition of hers. I'm sure she would love to eat right now, but if she accepts it she's subjecting herself to that aggressive male. Inside, she's broken…"

When the female _Dimetrodon_ backed away from the food, the male hissed menacingly, and moved closer. The female growled in return, trying to drive her suitor away. Grudgingly, the male picked up the labyrinthodont and left.

"He's gone," Michael whispered, and let out a deep breath. "But I doubt he'll be gone for long. If he gets too aggressive, he could seriously injure the female or even kill her. She'll be reluctant to leave the nest, even though her eggs are gone. I…I just don't know what to do."

Michael shrunk back into the safety of the ferns. He was clearly shaken. "We've got to save her somehow," he said. "But I don't know how."

He started walking back towards camp, but noticed a bright spot in the cycads. Moving closer, Michael saw it was another _Labidosaurus_. "Hello," he said to it.

But upon a closer look, there was something wrong. The _Labidosaurus_ was listless and unresponsive, and its eyes were cloudy. "What's wrong?" Michael asked. He picked it up. "I think it's sick. Sick with what, I can't tell, but it's very sick all the same."

He sighed. "I said I wouldn't, but I'm going to. I have to take this one back, so Catherine can take a look at it and restore its health again. And then I'll be back to the nest and the female _Dimetrodon_. One way or another, she's coming back to Prehistoric Park."

**Once Michael takes the _Labidosaurus_ back to the park, Catherine and the medical team have a large problem in their hands.**

Catherine stood in the operating room next to the _Labidosaurus_, which was strapped down to the table. "Thank the stars that Michael brought her in when he did," she said, "because this is something quite serious. I've had a look over her, and she has an osteomyelitic infection, which is just a tooth infection. Normally we'd do a root canal for this, but I've never done a root canal on a reptile before. In fact, very few people in the world have. All we can do is hope for the best."

Soon, the staff got to work. Probes held the animal's mouth open as Catherine gave a good look at the infected tooth. It looked in very bad shape. Carefully, she started drilling the tooth open. "I have to do this to reach the pulp where the infection starts," she said. "Then, general procedure entails cleaning the pulp out and replacing the tooth top with a synthetic material."

Catherine finished drilling and got out a selection of small files. "But reptile teeth are much different from those of mammals," she said, "so I just hope that I'm doing things right."

Catherine and the team continued working in the clinic.

**Meanwhile, Michael is ready to save the female _Dimetrodon_ – with whatever it takes.**

Michael was back by the nest. The female _Dimetrodon_ was getting weaker, and was having difficulty standing up. "I've tried to prepare for every possible outcome," he said. "I have the portal sticks with me, and an extra set back at camp just in case. I took the liberty of taking a turkey sandwich back there, so I might be able to lure her into the portal with that."

Making sure he had everything he needed, Michael readied himself. "Now all I need to do is just – _quick, get down_!" He ducked to the ground and hid in the grass.

Calmly – frighteningly calmly – the male _Dimetrodon_ made his way over the hillside towards the nest. The female raised her head and began barking weakly, trying to ward the male off. But he would have none of it.

Michael cursed under his breath. "That's the one thing – the _one thing_ that I hoped wouldn't happen. I can't do anything while he's there, otherwise he'll start chasing me, and I have nowhere else to hide." He breathed slowly. "But if it keeps him away from the female…well, maybe that's what will have to happen."

The male continued advancing towards the female, who was starting to snap at his approach. When the male snapped back, Michael said, "Screw it!" and stood up. "Hey! Get over here! Don't hurt her! Back!"

Upon hearing the commotion, the male raised his head and looked towards Michael with that menacing scarred eye. It gave forth a deep growl, and started moving closer.

Michael stopped, as there was nothing else he could do, and ran. The male followed him with a snarl, moving faster and picking up the pace. The female _Dimetrodon_ looked towards the two creatures that were departing. At this point, she thought only of food. And reluctantly, she joined in the chase.

**Michael has effectively stopped the two _Dimetrodon_ from fighting, but now he has both of them on his tail. So far, this isn't looking very good…**

Running as fast as he could, trying to keep his backpack from falling off his shoulders, Michael dashed over the next hillside. However, he wasn't prepared for what he ran into – literally.

There was a loud bellow. "Whoa!" Michael shouted, nearly falling over as he stumbled. He quickly looked around, and found himself in the middle of the _Edaphosaurus_ herd. Surprised at his sudden appearance, the herd became uneasy, and when they heard the snarls of the incoming pair of _Dimetrodon_, they started to stampede.

In Michael's mind, a plan was starting to form, but he could only hope that it worked.

**Back at the campsite, team member James doesn't know what's about to hit him.**

James whistled happily as he tied his shoes. He expected Michael to be back soon, having already caught the _Dimetrodon_. Maybe they could take a nice walk among the ferns in the fresh air for a while, and then head back home to the park.

But then, he noticed a thundering noise, coming up from ahead. He looked towards the direction of the noise, curiously.

Michael was running back towards the camp, with a whole herd of sail-backed creatures stampeding behind him. "_Jaaaaaaames!_" Michael shouted. "_Get the portal open_!"

James kicked off his one untied shoe and grabbed the set of portal sticks sitting nearby. As quickly as he could, he stuck them in the ground and set them up. At the last moment, Michael dived aside, and the portal switched on.

One by one, the herd of _Edaphosaurus_ thundered through the portal, just before they could trample the campsite.

At the park, Norman was standing by the holding pens, having done all his chores for the morning. "Here's the _Dimetrodon_!" he said as he waited for the creature to come through.

But without warning, a large herd of the sailbacks burst through the portal. Norman was visibly thrown back by the stampede. "What the, my god, Michael, how many did you catch?!"

In the Permian, the two _Dimetrodon_ had caught up with Michael. "This is it," he said, and waved his arms at the reptiles. "Come on! Let's go through! Follow me!"

Michael dashed through the portal. While James watched in awe, the male _Dimetrodon_ snarled and pursued Michael into the present day. The female, desperate for food, followed.

**Now that Michael has finally caught his targets, the rest of the park should be happy – well, most of the rest of the park, anyway.**

Norman had directed the herd into Holding Pen 5, and he was currently moaning over them when he saw Michael approaching him. "Michael!" he shouted. "You told me you were bringing back one, and you bring back a whole pack of them?!"

Michael laughed. "Relax, Norman. These aren't _Dimetrodon_. They're _Edaphosaurus_, and they're herbivores too. They shouldn't be much of a problem for you.

"Unexpected arrivals are always a problem for me," Norman grumbled. "I thought you were bringing back the Dimetrodon, though…"

"I did!" Michael said with a smile. "Two of them, in fact!"

"Oh, dear lord, Michael…tell me they're easy to deal with."

Michael chuckled, and didn't say anything more.

**After leaving Norman to find enclosures for the new arrivals, Michael is eager to check up on another resident.**

Michael walked into the veterinary clinic to meet up with Catherine. She was standing next to a quarantine enclosure that contained the _Labidosaurus_, who seemed much more alert now.

"How is she?" Michael asked. "Did everything work out okay?"

"She's fine," Catherine replied. "The root canal worked and the infection is gone. She'll probably be a bit restless for a couple of days, but that's normal."

"I'll say. I needed one of those once and it hurt like you wouldn't believe for the next couple of days."

Catherine laughed. "I did a bit of research on this species, and it seems that specimens have been found with tooth infections before. But I'm not quite sure if that was because they were prone to infection or because of the way their teeth were built. Either way, she's perfectly healthy now."

"Excellent," Michael said.

"I also checked up on the _Dimetrodon_ you brought back," Catherine said. "The male is fine. The female is a bit emaciated, but with the proper feeding regimen she should recover without any problems."

"Excellent." Michael's walkie-talkie gave forth a burst of static, and he stepped out to answer the incoming call.

**Soon, all of the new creatures are put into their proper paddocks. The _Platyhystrix_ and the _Labidosaurus_ live together with the Galapagos tortoises, while the _Edaphosaurus_ and _Diadectes_ are put in a large, open paddock. As for the _Dimetrodon_…they will go into two separate enclosures for the time being. There's just one more problem Michael needs to deal with…**

"It's the dryptosaurs," Norman said as he drove Michael down to the paddock. "They've gotten worse over the past day. Nobody is quite sure what to do with them, and I was hoping you could help."

"Well, let's see what they're doing," Michael said, as the Jeep drove up to the fence. Inside, the dryptosaurs were roaring and thrashing their tails.

"Maybe they just need to let off some steam," Michael ventured. "Here, can I take the wheel for a moment?"

"Um…sure." Norman and Michael switched seats. "Terry, can you open the door to the paddock?" Michael shouted.

Terry, who had been standing nearby, obliged and opened the door. Norman noticed that Terry seemed to be smiling, but couldn't give a second glance as the Jeep drove inside. "Where are you heading, Michael?"

"Into the trees." Michael drove them past the tree trunks and through the grass, until they reached the edge of the grove. Beyond, the dryptosaur pack was milling about.

"Michael, what are you trying to do?"

Michael only said "You'll like this bit," and then drove out of the trees and honked his horn at the pack.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing Michael? Stop, they'll start chasing us!" Norman yelled.

"That's exactly the idea!" Michael said. The alpha pair of dinosaurs turned towards them and roared, and then proceeded to charge at them.

"Aaaaaah!" Norman shouted as Michael turned the Jeep around to head back through the trees. "What are you doing?! You'll kill us all!"

"As an old friend of mine once said, 'Hold onto your butts!'" Michael said with glee.

Norman had dived into the back seat and was now looking through the back window at the dinosaurs following them. "What are you doing?!" he continued to yell as he watched the pack run and roar at the car.

The Jeep burst through the trees and into an open plain, and Michael floored it. Norman watched the receding dinosaurs slow, and then stop. The alpha female gave one last roar at the Jeep and then turned away.

"Whoof!" Norman gasped as Michael slowed the car down and drove towards the paddock door. "That should calm them down for a little while," Michael said. "If we do this every couple of days or so, they should be back to normal in a jiffy."

He drove the Jeep out, and Terry closed the door. "Michael…" Norman panted, "…don't ever let me do that again."

Michael smiled. "I wanted to ask you something," Terry said to him, "if you don't mind."

"Sure, go ahead."

"…Can I have a turn?"

**Next time...**

**Michael and Terry travel back to the Triassic and dive into the ocean to find a very large and very odd marine reptile.**

In a diving suit, Michael swims next to a gigantic ichthyosaur.

**But the new residents don't like the park very much.**

A large fluked tail slams into an aquarium wall with a resounding bang.

**But for now, the staff of Prehistoric Park - and the pack of Dryptosaurus - have found a new favorite game to play.**

* * *

_There you have it. Again, sorry for the wait, but I hope it was worth it. Unfortunately, that wait will probably be the norm at this point, because I have lots of other work to do. But if you thought this episode was good, wait until you see the next one :)_

_For yet more intriguing coincidences I didn't know about, it seems that Norman and Catherine (the names) have already been put to use here in the Prehistoric Park section before…used in a story to name two Cretaceous marine reptiles, in the same chapter nonetheless. Also, I've been reading other stories (these can't be seen on the main PP fanfic collection) and I've seen episodes with animals that I though t I was the absolute first to put into fiction, let alone PP fanfiction. Man, it's getting hard to come up with original things these days :P _

_That said, here is the list of creatures we caught today:_

**_1.2 Platyhystrix  
3.3 Diadectes  
0.1 Labidosaurus  
3.6 Edaphosaurus  
1.1 Dimetrodon_**

_Additional animals encountered:_

**_Seymouria (labyrinthodont amphibian)_**

_Remember to review, and see you next time!_


	4. Mysteries of the Deep

_Hey, I'm back, with the next episode, finally :D Before we get down to business, there were a few anonymous reviews I couldn't reply to through PM, so let me answer here...Lukas, Michael didn't bring back the first Labidosaurus that he saw. But then he came upon another one that was sick, so that's why he ended up taking it back. For the rest of you who have put out suggestions, I've taken at least one each into consideration for upcoming episodes :) so keep an eye out for those._

_Enough chit-chat though. There's something in the deep..._

* * *

**We live in a very strange world. Over ninety-nine percent of the species that ever lived on our planet are now extinct. But what if we could save them? What if we could bring them back to our own world?**

**Join biologist Michael Emerson as he travels back in time to meet animals that have never existed for millions of years. He will save them from extinction and take them into the present day to give them a second chance.**

**This time, Michael travels back 215 million years to rescue a gigantic reptile that looked like a fish and lived in the seas.**

**Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome…to Prehistoric Park!**

It was a rare moment at the park. No animals were escaping, none of them had temper tantrums, and it actually seemed relatively pleasant under the sun.

**So far, Prehistoric Park is filling up nicely. Already, it is home to a wide variety of prehistoric creatures brought back from extinction, namely a pack of theropod dinosaurs, two playful **_**Darwinius**_** primates, and a bunch of sail-backed reptiles. Now that Michael has achieved his task of rescuing these animals and making sure they are happy in the present day, logically, it's time to turn to the next step: breeding in captivity.**

Two rather swampy paddocks were situated right next to each other, with a small maintenance road running along one side. The inhabitants of the enclosures were basking in the morning sun.

**Right now, the most viable candidates to start a breeding project are the two resident **_**Dimetrodon**_**. Michael rescued them from the Permian period, where the female had just lost her previous clutch of eggs to a thieving amphibian. Both animals were brought back to the park safely. The male seems eager to find a mate, and with luck, the two can be reintroduced to each other sometime soon. The park's faithful paleontologist Terry is checking up on them now.**

Parking the Jeep alongside the enclosures, Terry got out and looked into the paddocks. "The female's recovering well," he noted. "When she came in she was a bit thin, but now she's almost back to normal, which is good news. Catherine and the vets have done wonders."

He leaned against the hood of the Jeep as he spoke. "Michael really wants to breed them once they're both back in prime condition," he said, "which is a bit exciting. Difficult, too. If zoos have a hard time trying to get their animals to breed – well, they should try working with extinct ones." Terry chuckled.

"But anyway, if all goes well and we do manage to get a clutch of eggs, that opens the door for breeding many other species in the park. And there's no telling what will happen from there." Terry got back into the Jeep, and drove away.

**Although Michael would certainly love to breed the park's inhabitants, something else is on his mind right now…the next expedition into the past.**

Michael was standing next to a fish tank inside of his study. There were a couple of fish inside, but they hardly seemed to be the main focus of the display. "If you look closely, you might be able to see what I've got in here," Michael said. He pointed at one of the long, stringy plants inside. "He's there."

Nestled among the leaves, curling its tail tip around a stem of the plant, was a small, mottled green snake living in the water. It had two curious appendages on its snout. "That's a tentacled snake," Michael explained, "a snake which lives its entire life completely underwater. Many people are familiar with the sea snakes of the tropical oceans, but the tentacled snake is unique because it's found only in freshwater. It eats fish instead of things like mice or rats."

Michael stepped away from the tank. "This snake is one of the few reptiles around today that lives entirely in water, never coming out onto the land. But in the past, there have been many types of reptiles that live completely underwater, be it in fresh or saltwater. And this time, I'm setting out to catch one of those marine reptiles!"

He flipped through his field guide. The book was crammed with other papers, sketches and skeletal diagrams, and pages had been ripped out and put back in. "There are a wide variety of marine reptiles I could look for, like the plesiosaurs or mosasaurs," Michael said. "But today, I'm looking for a very specific type."

Michael took a piece of paper from the book, which showed a sketch of a long-snouted fishlike creature without a dorsal fin. "This is _Shonisaurus_, a type of ichthyosaur," Michael explained. "The name 'ichthyosaur' literally means 'fish lizard', and you can see the resemblance. The fact that this is a reptile that evolved to look like a fish is amazing enough, but that's not all. It grew to an amazing 50 feet long!"

He continued to skim through the book. "_Shonisaurus_ lived about 215 million years ago, in the Triassic period. Most of what we know about this animal comes from fossil finds in Nevada, where it's actually the state fossil. Dozens of individuals have been found there in a large bonebed, filled with skulls and vertebrae, scattered about in the rock. Many people have speculated about how the bones got there, and some have even gone as far as to say…" Michael paused, stopping himself. "Well, it's a bit weird, really," he admitted. "Personally, I think a bonebed was formed because _Shonisaurus_ lived in groups or pods, like some marine mammals today. And I'll see if I can answer that question when I head out with Terry this morning."

Michael pocketed the book, and then left his study.

**Bringing back extinct marine animals to the present day is an unprecedented task, even for the Prehistoric Park team. Thankfully, the staff has been working around the clock to provide proper housing for these creatures.**

Michael walked down a metal staircase, with Terry following close behind. They emerged into a room with tile floors and thick plexiglass walls. Beyond the walls, it was overwhelmingly blue.

"Is everything ready, Norman?" Michael asked as he met up with the head keeper, who had been waiting inside.

"Smooth as silk," Norman assured. "All the walls for your fish are in place, and so are the observation passageways and all the rest. After this, we can start building exhibits for future marine acquisitions…though I'd prefer not to."

Michael smiled. "I should explain," he began. "The underwater facilities are a special sort of design. We have a set of portal sticks attached to buoys so we can steer the yacht through, and then an additional, sunken pair immersed in the water for the marine holding pens. Large, reinforced walls of different materials keep the animals in their paddocks, and we've tried to cut costs by using the offshore chain of guyots in order to use a little less plexiglass."

"Cost-cutting or not, it was still extremely expensive," Norman said, "and permanent too. This time, you're going to have to keep to your quota. There are only two marine paddocks ready – one for your fish and another small one that integrates the coastline. So, at most, you can only bring back _one_ other type of animal with you. No buts."

"I think we can do that," Terry said, glancing at Michael, who gave a slight wink.

"If you can, I'd like it if you were finished within a day," Norman added. "Things have been terribly busy around the park in the last few days, and we need you back as soon as you can make it." He looked at his watch. "Well then, I believe it's time for you two to get going," he said. "_The Ammonite_ is waiting for you guys up top. Good luck."

With that, Michael and Terry departed up the staircase to the boat.

**With more pressure on them than ever before, Michael and Terry have a big job to finish…**

"Are we ready to roll?" Terry asked aboard Prehistoric Park's rugged ketch yacht, _The Ammonite_. His loose shirt fluttered in the gathering wind. The sky above them was slowly becoming cloudier, and a light rain shower was probably likely.

The crew nodded at the question. Ahead of the ship, the buoyed portal flared into life.

"Well, then let's get going!" Michael said, and the yacht began its course. _The Ammonite_ cruised slowly through the portal; first the front disappeared, and then finally the whole hull went through. Michael and Terry stood on the deck and watched as the boat moved into the Triassic period.

On the other side of the portal, they were met with gently rolling waves and a warm sea breeze. The ship had emerged near a stretch of tropical coastline. "Look at this!" Michael shouted. "Warm air, sparkling waves, and a beautiful shore. It's perfect. Ancient Nevada seems like a great destination for a cruise!"

Terry smiled, and looked around at the sight. "It's definitely nice," he agreed, "almost like a mild Mediterranean-type climate. In the Triassic we know it was mostly hot and dry, but we're off the western shore of Pangaea and not in the middle of land. So obviously it was much nicer out," he laughed.

Michael slipped on a wide-brimmed hat to protect himself from the sun and the cloudless sky. "Well, I'd love to stay and bask in the scenery, but we're on a timeframe and we have work to do," he said. "Right now I'd say it's a good time to see what _The Ammonite_ can do."

He started walking down the deck. "It's probably a good time to hoist the sails up," Michael said. "There's a nice breeze and I'd like to save some energy, especially since our time is short. But Terry and the crew will take care of that. Come inside."

Michael stepped inside the yacht itself, into a room with hardwood floors. The walls had plenty of wide windows that allowed you to see onto the deck and out into the ocean. Most of the room was dedicated to bookshelves and scientific equipment, but there was a lounge area with a coffee maker at the far side of the room. "This is where most of the time aboard _The Ammonite_ will be spent. Pretty much everything we'll need during the expedition is here. It's where all the action happens, you might say. We have observational equipment all around the ship, and underwater cameras that can broadcast images to a computer screen over there. Of course there's no TV or Internet connection – we're sailing 215 million years before they will ever be invented – but even without those, we can still find out what the weather's going to be like!" He pointed to a glass tube filled with a clear liquid that rested on a wooden base.

"That thing is called a storm glass. Inside is a bunch of crystals suspended in a special solution. If the crystals react a certain way, you can tell what the weather will be like in the next day or two. A captain called Robert FitzRoy invented it, and he took the storm glass with him aboard _The Beagle_ on a surveying expedition around the world. As you might already know, that's the same voyage that Charles Darwin went on when he first envisioned the idea of evolution!" Michael smiled. "But I'm particularly proud of this piece."

Michael moved over to one corner where a large black device sat atop a table. It had a screen, which showed a digital representation of the ship from the top surrounded by green concentric circles. "This is a sonar device," Michael explained. "Normally it's used in fishing enterprises to detect shoals of cod or salmon. But we can use it here on _The Ammonite_, too. If some large marine animal comes near the ship – a _Shonisaurus_, for instance – then the sound waves sent out by the sonar will pick it up and pinpoint its location here on the screen. This will be a big help in our search for _Shonisaurus_, and I have a feeling that it's going to work really well. So, fingers crossed!"

Michael left the sonar to its own devices and went back outside to the deck.

**While Michael and Terry are getting down to business in Triassic Nevada, Norman is back at the park taking care of daily duties.**

As expected, there was a gentle rain falling in the park. Shielding his head from the drops, Norman pulled out a wheelbarrow and shovel from the back of his pickup truck. "Rain's a fact of life in this part of the world," he said. "Thankfully though, it isn't a torrential downpour like it usually is." A loud squawking sound came from the forested paddock he was parked next to. "Oh, be quiet," Norman grumbled as he shut the back flap of the truck.

He sighed. "The problem with that _Gastornis_ is that she's so noisy. It's not like a sparrow or a songbird, which is very nice to listen to. Think of a demonic parrot, on a sound loop." Norman shook his head. "At least the _Gastornis_ is one of the easier animals to take care of. I like it because its cage is easy to clean – unlike the hadrosaurs." He shuddered at the mere thought.

Suddenly, there was a grunting from behind the truck, and a brown, turtle-like shape lumbered into view. "Alright, come on Ned," Norman called, and smiled. "It's great. Ned behaves enough that I allow him to follow me around while I'm taking care of business around the park."

**Ned the nodosaur was rescued from the Cretaceous of New Jersey, and was the first animal that Michael ever brought back from the past. At first he was quite shy, but thanks to Norman's efforts, he became rather tame. Now, the two are best friends.**

Norman extracted a flower from his pocket, and gave it to Ned. "He loves magnolias in particular," Norman said. "If nothing else, he follows me around in hope of getting a tasty treat."

He moved over the paddock door and set his supplies down in order to find the correct key for the door. "Michael's on my mind again," he said as he searched through his key ring. "He's really going to have to keep to his quota this time around. While he goes off bumbling in the Jurassic or who-knows-where, I'm back at the park dealing with expenses. And a place like this is expensive enough as it is. Once they're built, the marine exhibits are permanently fixed, and almost impossible to repair if they get damaged. If Michael brings back something he shouldn't – which usually happens – then I'll have to build another tank. That takes time and costs a lot of money, and the animals would have to be maintained in a holding pen until we get it built, which'll cost even more money, and so on and so on. I think that's what they call a chain reaction." Norman found the right key and opened up the paddock door.

While he slipped the wet keys back into his paddock, he said, "I don't think Michael fully realizes all that, the reckless daredevil as he is. But if comes back with more than he's been told, then he's going to get a personal earful from me."

Ned starting moving towards the paddock door, attempting to follow Norman. "No no, you stay here for the time being, boy," Norman said. "You don't want to run into the big chicken in there!" He chuckled, and then went inside to finish his cleaning duties.

**Back in the Triassic, Michael and Terry have already struck gold.**

Terry stood by the sonar screen, which was making a slow, rhythmic beeping noise. "Michael, over here!" he said excitedly.

Michael ran over, and laughed as he saw what was on the screen. "Would you look at that!" he laughed.

The sonar showed several green shapes with fins moving not far from the boat. With every beep of the sonar, the shapes changed position.

Michael pointed at the shapes and explained, "There's something down below us, something big. And there's a whole group of them! This may just be what we're looking for. Terry? I'm going to get into my diving suit and jump in to watch. You stay by the sonar screen and make sure they don't move away."

"Right-o," Terry nodded. He stayed glued to the sonar device while Michael descended into the cabins to retrieve his diving suit.

Within seconds, Michael was on the deck and in his scuba gear. "Quickest change ever," he muttered to himself, and then jumped into the sea.

The water was surprisingly warm, but he didn't notice that. What he noticed was the group of giant gray fish-like animals swimming together, only a short distance away from _The Ammonite_. "This is it!" Michael said into his mask. "It's a pod of _Shonisaurus_!"

He swam closer to the pod, but the animals did not acknowledge his appearance. They looked very odd, but at the same time also looked very graceful. Up close, it was hard to believe that they were reptiles instead of fish.

"This isn't just a random congregation," Michael noted. "I'm convinced this is a family group of _Shonisaurus_, moving together. Looks like my theory was right! Are you hearing this all, Terry?" he said through his radio equipment.

"Loud and clear," Terry said from aboard _The Ammonite_.

Michael didn't say any more, but instead started swimming alongside the pod. He had found the shonisaurs within an hour of arriving in the Triassic, and his smiling face revealed that he was clearly enjoying it.

**He may be having fun, but what Michael doesn't know is that something much more worrisome is stirring in the depths…**

Terry watched the feed from the underwater cameras, where he could see the pod of _Shonisaurus_ and Michael alongside them. He was fixated on the ichthyosaurs until a particularly loud beep from the sonar startled him. Annoyed at being interrupted, he turned towards the screen to see what the matter was.

He could see the group of _Shonisaurus_ clearly, but at the far side of the screen, there was another, rather amorphous shape. And it was massive.

Terry grabbed the radio. "Michael, are you there?"

A garbled reply came back. "I – yeah. W – t's up? Anyth – rong?"

"Something else is out there. Can you see anything?"

"-orry, but I can't quite – you out – ay again?"

In the water, Michael shrugged. "I think there's a problem with the radio," he remarked. "Terry's not coming in very well."

Suddenly, one of the _Shonisaurus_ flicked its tail, and shot rapidly through the water. The others quickly followed suit, and within seconds the pod had scattered and was out of sight.

Confused, Michael looked around. "Why'd they leave?" he asked. "I'm not sure why, but they just high-tailed it out of here." There was a clear sense of disappointment in his voice. "Better head back up to the ship, give the ichthyosaurs time to calm down and come back."

Once Michael had surfaced, Terry ran out to the deck. "What were you trying to say?" Michael immediately asked. "The radio must've been having some problems; I couldn't quite make you out."

"Something big showed up on the sonar," Terry said, looking down at Michael. "It was there for about a minute before it left again."

"How big?"

"Very big."

Michael frowned. "Another ichthyosaur?"

"Maybe. I couldn't make out any real detail."

"Well, I don't think it's impossible," Michael said. "There were a couple of big predatory ichthyosaurs around in the Triassic. Maybe that's why I didn't get much of a chance to deal with the _Shonisaurus_; they all scattered suddenly."

Terry took off his hat and wiped his brow. "I suppose," he said. "Perhaps a _Cymbospondylus_ or the like. But I don't think they were anywhere near that big."

"I think we won't be able to say what it was, really," Michael said. "Shouldn't worry about it too much. The fact is we're on a time constraint here, and we have other things to worry about."

"Sure." Terry helped hoist Michael up onto the deck, and the two went back inside the ship.

**Back at the park, Catherine is checking up on one of the park's newest patients.**

Catherine drove up to the side of the tortoise enclosure. "I just wanted to follow up on the _Labidosaurus_," she said. "It's been a few days since the operation, so I wanted to make sure that she's recovering alright."

**Michael rescued the **_**Labidosaurus**_** from the Permian swamps of Texas. Although he wasn't planning to bring one back, this female had a tooth infection that needed treating. The root canal was successful, and now Catherine is back to make sure everything is in order.**

Catherine opened the gate and stepped inside. Around the pond, she could see the giant tortoises and the three _Platyhystrix_ congregated around the water. "At least they don't seem to be having any problems here. The _Platyhystrix_ have adapted very nicely, although if you give them a chance to escape, they'll gladly take it."

While the sail-backed amphibians continued to lounge in the pond, Catherine started looking for the _Labidosaurus_. "She hides a lot, mostly, like a lot of other modern-day reptiles. The only time you can really see her is when she's out basking on her favorite rock. There she is now, actually."

Catherine found the bright orange creature standing out among the gray and green of the enclosure. It didn't move as she approached, but instead watched the vet with one careful eye.

"There we are, sweetie," Catherine said, kneeling down. "You alright now?"

The _Labidosaurus_ blinked as if in response. "She looks fine," Catherine surmised, "much better than how she was before the operation. That's good."

Satisfied that everything was in order, Catherine turned back to the giant tortoises. "This is something Michael always wanted to see," she said. "When he started the park it was always his dream to see both modern and extinct animals living together in harmony." She watched as a couple of tortoises plodded over to the pond, causing the _Platyhystrix_ to raise their heads and watch the lumbering newcomers in suspicion.

"We can never release extinct animals into the wild, naturally," Catherine continued. "Their world is long gone. So this is the next best thing, really."

Catherine got up and left the paddock, getting into the Jeep to return to the clinic.

**Meanwhile in the Triassic, Michael and Terry have turned to strategy in order to beat the clock.**

_The Ammonite_ was moving at a steady pace towards the tropical shore. "Terry and I have both agreed," Michael began, sitting in the ship's lounge, "that the pod of _Shonisaurus_ won't reappear for a couple of hours after they were spooked. So instead of wasting time, I'm going to try something different. If you'll remember, Norman said back at the park that I could only bring back one other marine species at most." Michael smiled. "Well, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

He got up and faced the coastline. "We have two paddocks: one for the _Shonisaurus_ and then one that integrates part of the beach. So that's why we're heading closer to the coast to catch another species – whatever that species might be!"

**There were quite a few types of marine animals in the Triassic that lived both on land and in the water. Michael will be happy to take any of them – provided that he finds one, of course.**

Michael stood on the deck in his diving suit next to Terry, who had also gotten into a diving suit. "Ready?" he asked the paleontologist.

"As I'll ever be," Terry said, and the two chuckled. Then they jumped into the water.

The ocean wasn't very deep here, and they could both see the pristine white sand at the sea floor, sloping upwards towards the shore. There were a variety of exotic marine plants growing around them. Hundreds of smaller fish swam around the weeds and the rocks, but Michael and Terry were hardly interested in small fry.

Soon they came upon a shoal of small ichthyosaurs, only about a meter long each. "Look over here!" Terry said through his mask. "I think they're _Mixosaurus_."

The _Mixosaurus_ were a bit different from the Shonisaurus, not least because they were much smaller. They were also more elongated and had a small dorsal fin. Every so often, one of the ichthyosaurs nabbed a fish in its long jaws. "I've always wanted to see these guys!" Michael said. "They don't fit the exhibit very well, though. We'll find something else."

The two watched the shoal for a while before moving on.

As they swam closer to the coastline, Michael stopped suddenly. "Do you hear something?" he said.

Terry listened closely. There was a distinctive squeaking sound, something like a noise that a dolphin would make.

Suddenly, three reptilian shapes swam into view, squeaking and twirling in the water. They looked rather like lizards, but with longer necks and toothier mouths, and measuring four meters long each. They also had a distinctive coloration, a mottled tan and black on their dorsal side.

"Fantastic!" Michael exclaimed. "These are _Nothosaurus_. They lived a bit like reptilian seals. And they sure are playful!"

The nothosaurs swam in circles around Michael and Terry, squeaking some more. "They're very curious," Terry noted. "It's like they're not afraid of much. Reminds me a bit of dolphins…"

"Maybe, yeah."

As Michael looked closer, he saw strange, lumpy protrusions on the underside of the nothosaurs. They looked almost shell-like, but he couldn't tell exactly. But maybe he could find out soon…

Michael pulled out two portal sticks from a compartment on his diving apparatus. "Want to try bringing them in?"

Terry took the sticks and started setting them up. They were a special weighted type of portal that would sit in a stationary position, neither floating up to the surface nor sinking down to the bottom. "I think these nothosaurs would be a great addition to Prehistoric Park," Michael said. "Since they're so curious, they might even just go right through into the portal without any encouragement!"

As the portal flared into life, one of the nothosaurs turned to look at the new sight. It swam around the portal of couple times, squeaking erratically. Then, it paused briefly before swimming through. The other two animals followed its lead.

**Michael has rescued the first ever aquatic animals for Prehistoric Park. And Norman is present to witness their arrival.**

It was still raining lightly back at the park, and drops spattered the ocean surface. From the holding pen viewing area, Norman watched the activating portal with an intent eye. "Michael told me his fish was going to be big," he said. "Thankfully, its enclosure is built right next to the holding pen, so we can just move it through without a problem."

The portal fizzled, and three reptilian creatures swam into the pen. "…What?" Norman blurted. "That's not…"

He saw Michael and Terry swimming out of the portal to presumably explain themselves, so Norman rushed into the corridor leading back to the beach. There was a small hatch in the ceiling. Norman knew that beyond that hatch there was a small chamber where the two would enter from. The water would be suctioned out of the room and then anyone could come through the hatch without spilling any saltwater.

Soon enough, Michael and Terry hopped down into the hallway with their masks off. "_Michael!_" Norman shouted. "I told you that you could only come home with your fish!" He was quite angry.

"Two things, Norman," Michael began. "First, _Shonisaurus_ isn't a fish, it's an ichthyosaur reptile."

Norman rolled his eyes. "Whatever –"

"Second, I do remember you saying that there was an extra paddock that integrated part of the coast that could be used for something else. Just only one other species, right?"

Norman grumbled. "I suppose I did, yeah," he said under gritted teeth. "But I was hoping we could keep that one in reserve."

"Trust me, Norman, you'll like the nothosaurs," Terry piped up. "They're really fun to watch."

Norman sighed. "You guys better have made the right choice," he said, before disappearing down the corridor to move the new arrivals.

"Let's get back," Michael said. "The rest of the crew will be waiting for us."

**With no more spare exhibits left and time more pressing than ever, Michael and Terry really have to know what they're doing now…**

The blazing Triassic sun beat down on the deck of _The Ammonite_, where Michael stood with his hat. "We've had to change strategy now," he said. "Right now we're back on the open ocean. Instead of searching for the _Shonisaurus_, we're going to let them find us. Then they shouldn't be panicked in any way, and we can go and get one – hopefully!"

Terry came back out from inside the ship. "The sonar looks fine," he began. "I've told Dennis to radio us if he sees something big coming. There is a shoal of something small down there, though – I'm guessing a school of fish or something."

"Possible ichthyosaur food," Michael smirked. "Come on, let's get down there and see if the _Shonisaurus _come to us."

Soon, the two had gotten back into their suits and dived in. And they immediately saw the group: spiral-shaped shells, with a couple tentacles sticking out of the end.

"Hey, look at these!" Michael said. "Our ship's namesake. These are ammonites, and quite a lot of them by the looks of it! Some of them are huge."

They approached a particularly large ammonite, over three feet in diameter. Upon their approach, the ammonite's tentacles flew into its shell to be protected. "Any idea on the species?" Michael asked.

"Not a clue," Terry admitted. "But there are thousands of them, so I don't expect to remember them all!"

"'_1001 Ways to Serve Calamari_'," Michael joked, which got a laugh. Suddenly, there was a crackling noise from their radio. "-oming your way."

"Say again, Dennis?"

"-shoni – od are – your way."

Michael perked up. "Radio troubles again, but I think he's saying he spotted the shonisaur pod on the sonar!" he said. Suddenly, there was a loud crunch. Michael and Terry turned to look.

Another ammonite had fallen prey to a _Shonisaurus_, who was now munching down upon its food happily. The pod had arrived silently, and was now feasting.

"Calamari, indeed!" Terry said. "Looks like they eat ammonites a lot. It's a good food source."

**Ammonites were very common during the entirety of the Mesozoic Era. There were almost certainly dinner for a wide variety of marine species – including, it seems, **_**Shonisaurus**_**.**

"Look at them go!" Michael said, watching them. The ichthyosaurs had a slow demeanor about them, but they could really move if they needed to, as Michael had seen earlier. And the pod was quickly munching down the ammonites with glee.

"This is as good an opportunity as any to bring one back," Michael said. "I'll set up the portal. Terry, you just keep an eye on the pod and let me know if they start moving."

"Right."

There was another crackling noise from the radio. "-uys, can you – omething – there, can't – ee – is."

"Stupid radio," Terry grumbled under his breath. "Say again, Dennis?"

"Can – ear – over?"

"There are problems with the radio equipment. Repeat that, if you could?"

"It's – ig – on the sonar – arge, tent – out of – now!"

"I still can't hear you, over?"

"Just – et o – ow – god – uge – get on back!"

Terry blinked. "Michael, we should get out," he said.

"Everything's under control," Michael said calmly, as he grappled with the portal sticks.

"I can't get through to Dennis, he radioed and there's something wrong up there, something with the sonar. I don't know if…" And he trailed off.

Michael shrugged. "We'll fix it when we…" and he paused, because his eyes had fallen on something below him and the pod and the ammonites. "…oh."

Below them, in the dark depths of the ocean, there was something stirring. A faint, blurred shape, barely visible in the gloom, only noticeable out of the corner of your eye. It moved slowly and silently, inching along almost methodically, taking care not to disturb a thing. Almost like it was watching.

Or waiting.

And then it was gone.

Michael blinked. Whatever it was, it had disappeared as quickly as he had seen it. The pod had not given it any attention whatsoever, like it wasn't even really there at all. Was it?

A hand touched his shoulder, startling him. Michael turned around to face Terry. "Michael…I think it's best if we get back to _The Ammonite_."

"Yeah." Michael nodded, and made his way hastily back up to the ship. He had never left so willingly like this, but…this was different.

Once they had surfaced, the two met up with Dennis. "Thank god you're back," Dennis said. "There was something huge on the sonar, I didn't know what it was. I tried to radio you guys, but something's up with the equipment. Anyway, it disappeared after a minute or so."

Michael and Terry glanced at each other. "I think we saw it, too," Michael said. "No idea what it was. It was best to come back on deck, just in case it decided to find a snack."

"Good call. A snack sounds good right about now, now that you mention it. I'll be back with some sandwiches for you guys." Dennis departed into another room.

Terry let out a deep breath, and looked at Michael. They could both tell something was up. Michael opened his mouth slightly, as if to speak, but then closed it again. Terry slowly shook his head.

"Couldn't be," he said softly. "Right?"

Michael nodded in agreement, as if to reassure himself, and the two men looked out the window at the rolling waves.

**While Michael and Terry face a predicament they've never come upon before, it's feeding time at Prehistoric Park.**

The drizzle had almost gone in the park, and Norman drove his pickup truck into the hadrosaur enclosure. Ned the nodosaur followed the truck from behind, running to keep up. "Come on Ned!" Norman said, sticking his head out the window. He chuckled, and then parked the truck next to a tree.

Norman went around back and got a wheelbarrow full of fresh ferns and flowers. "These are for the herd. The hadrosaurs normally browse on their own, but they love fresh treats from time to time." He peered into the distance. "Well, here they come."

The hadrosaur herd was running at a surprising pace towards the truck. "They're like cows," Norman said. "You ever seen it when a farmer dumps his leftover pumpkins into the cow pasture, and they all come running to eat? Well, same thing here." He smiled.

The herd reached Norman, and began grabbing ferns from the wheelbarrow in their mouths. "OK, hold your horses, there's enough for everyone," Norman said, and began offering flowers and fronds to the dinosaurs.

"Oh, here are the coelosaurs," Norman said, as the ornithomimids ventured up to the wheelbarrow. "I've got a special something for them." He pulled out a green plastic container from his pocket and opened the lid. It was full of this bedding that looked like sawdust. "The _Coelosaurus _aren't actually strict herbivores. They're omnivores. Usually, they'll dig up little bugs and things inside their paddock, but they love their mealworm treats." Norman sifted his fingers through the container and came up with a mealworm, which was immediately nabbed by one of the coelosaurs.

"Here you are. Nice mealy-worms for everyone," Norman said. He picked up a rather large mealworm with his fingers that immediately latched onto his thumb. "Ouch."

While he was preoccupied with the mealworm, one of the coelosaurs grabbed the container with its beak, spilling the contents all over the ground in a disappointing mess. There was a frenzy as the dinosaurs took advantage of the new feast.

Sighing, Norman plucked the mealworm off his finger and tossed it to a coelosaur. He noticed something nudging at his leg, and saw Ned's head reaching out to the wheelbarrow and grabbing a flower. "You've already had your lunch," Norman said, but the nodosaur simply licked his lips and opened his mouth, waiting for more.

Norman chuckled, and patted Ned on the head. "I'd better get back to the marine facilities. Michael and Terry should be back soon with their fish. Come on Ned, let's take you back."

**In fact, Michael and Terry are closer to finishing than Norman realizes – and even closer than **_**they **_**realize.**

Michael stood next to the sonar, which showed the ichthyosaurs still feeding. He was looking at the radio equipment. "I just can't see what's up with it," he said. "Radio between diving suits works fine, but not suit to ship. We'll have to get it looked over once we get back to the park. Anyway, it'll have to make do for right now. Dennis?"

"Yeah?"

"Terry and I are going to dive back in again. If you need to say something through this, be concise, otherwise the interference will just mess it up. Alright?"

"Sure thing."

Michael went out to meet Terry, who was sitting on the deck. "Been thinking?" Michael asked.

Terry looked up. "I guess you could say that," he said. "But I gather that we have some work to do now."

"You read my mind," Michael smiled.

**All hands on deck are alert, and Michael and Terry are ready for action. Let's hope that it will be enough…**

Michael and Terry submerged, and swam towards the feeding pod. Michael had the portal sticks in his hand, ready to set them up.

"Do you think Norman is going to let us catch more than one?" Terry asked.

"Probably not," Michael admitted. "So what we need to do is find a shonisaur that actually regards our presence. It'll have the best chance of willingly swimming through the portal."

"Norman doesn't like the marine facilities, does he?"

Michael shook his head. "I think he doesn't like it when there's lots of water. He never learned to swim."

The pod was close now, and the two stopped. "Ready now?" Michael asked, readying the portal sticks.

"As ever," Terry said. Michael activated the time portal, which stood out as a swirling of brightness in the overwhelming blue of the sea.

They waited for a short while, until one of the _Shonisaurus_ looked up from the ammonites and swam a short distance forward – towards the portal.

"This could be it," Michael breathed.

Aboard _The Ammonite_, Dennis tried a couple of switches on the radio equipment, just to see if they would work. There was nothing, so he turned back to the sonar. Michael and Terry were still down with the portal, and Dennis could see the shapes of the shonisaurs. The rhythmic beep from the sonar was almost comforting.

He finished the last of his sandwich and stared at the sonar screen. Nothing had changed. _Beep_. _Beep_. _Beep_. Dennis's eyes started to glaze over.

_Beep_. _Beep_. _Beep_.

_Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep beepbeepbeepbeep._

Dennis shook his eyes open and saw the enormous, radial shape on the sonar screen that had abruptly appeared next to the ichthyosaur pod. He scrambled in his seat, and then grabbed for the radio.

In the ocean, Michael watched the inquisitive _Shonisaurus_, which continued to move towards the portal. "Come on," he whispered. "Just a little bit further. A little bit."

Suddenly, the radio erupted in a squealing noise of high-pitched static. Terry immediately responded. "Dennis?"

Static.

"Dennis, are you there?"

More static. And then, Dennis's voice.

"-run!"

It all happened in an instant.

There was a terrifying scream, and a sudden swell of water knocked the two men back. Michael could see the darkness near the bottom of the ocean, and then the sun at the surface, as he realized he had tumbled back in a disoriented fashion.

Above the water, the swell of water rocked _The Ammonite_, and Dennis slipped off his feet and tumbled, hitting the floor hard.

Once Michael regained his senses – only after a brief second – he could see one of the _Shonisaurus_ with its mouth open, screaming, because something was pulling it back, something immense and sinuous, wrapped around the midbody of the ichthyosaur, causing the rest of the pod to scatter in panic. Ever so briefly, before the red cloud of blood began to materialize around the unfortunate victim, Michael could see a much larger form beyond, and then something shaped vaguely like a leaf. But he couldn't tell, because the next thing he noticed was the large fluked tail of a shonisaur, the same inquisitive individual that he and Terry had noticed.

"_Get it through!_" Michael screamed to Terry, as the victim ichthyosaur continued to shriek. In a frenzied panic, the inquisitive shonisaur fled in the only direction it could – which was straight through the portal. As fast as they could, Terry and Michael followed it. Michael took one last glance back at the menace that had struck…but it and its victim were gone, and only a cloud of blood in the water remained.

Aboard _The Ammonite_, Dennis scrambled to his feet, and leapt up back towards the radio and the sonar. He was about to call the two again when he paused.

That immense shape had vanished.

**It's all over – but, it's just begun for Norman.**

Norman watched as there was a fizzling from the portal, and then something started to quickly emerge from it. "Michael's brought back his fish!" he said, rather relieved. "And within time, too. Let's just hope that _OH MY GOD_!"

The _Shonisaurus_ blasted through the portal and directly towards the edge of the holding pen. Norman dived for cover as, with a resounding boom, the ichthyosaur's tail banged against the acrylic walls. "Christ!" Another ear-splitting crash echoed in the room.

"He didn't tell me that he'd catch a feisty one!" Norman shouted. "Those walls had better hold!"

Michael and Terry emerged from the portal, and started making their way towards the entrance hatch. The shonisaur thrashed its tail a couple of more times before settling down inside the safety of the pen.

Soon the two emerged from the pen. However, they looked quite shaken. "You're back, guys," Norman said. "Everything alright?"

Michael paused, breathing in and out slowly. "Yeah," he finally said. "It took more work to catch one than I expected, though!"

He then talked into the radio. "_Ammonite_…we're fine…caught target… at park…come on back…over and out." Michael switched it off. "Sorry about that, the ship's radio has problems. _The Ammonite_ should be returning to the present shortly now, since we have the _Shonisaurus_."

"Well, if you hadn't spent so much on ordering the scientific equipment, maybe I'd have had the resources to buy a decent radio, hm?"

Michael ignored that statement and turned to Terry. "Let's get out of these suits," he said. "I'm done with the water for today."

**The nothosaurs are happy in their new coastline habitat, and now the park's **_**Shonisaurus**_** has been moved into its permanent enclosure. Catherine is there to check up on all the new arrivals.**

"Everything's alright with the new animals," Catherine said to Michael. The two and Terry were standing next to a bench inside the viewing area for the _Shonisaurus_ enclosure. The ichthyosaur itself was drifting about happily in its new home. "They're all healthy by the looks of it."

"And the shonisaur should be fine? They lived in pods back home. Does she need the company of others at all?" Michael asked.

"I don't think there's any way we can tell at the moment. So we'll just have to keep an eye on her and see. I think she's a female, by the way."

Michael nodded. "And the nothosaurs? What about those lumps?"

"I'll have to take a closer look, but I think they're just barnacles, or something similar. That's something I can look over when I have the time."

"Alright. See you later, then," Michael said, and Catherine left the room.

Michael sighed, and sat down on the bench next to Terry. The two watched the _Shonisaurus_ exploring its new home in the modern day for a while.

"So," Michael sighed. "_The Ammonite_ has returned, the animals are all in their places, and everything is back to normal. All done." He paused. "What do you think it was, back there?" He spoke quieter now.

"I don't think we'll ever really know," Terry said. "And maybe that's for the best."

Michael turned back to the acrylic walls and thought a while. He very dearly hoped that was true, but he felt that it, unfortunately, wasn't the case.

Because both Michael and Terry were thinking that, deep inside their heads, it wasn't a mystery, because they somehow knew exactly what it was, despite all their previous assumptions, and they realized that it didn't seem so funny right now.

There was a sudden crackle of static, causing both Michael and Terry to jump from their thoughts. Michael's walkie-talkie said, "Michael? Can you get over here, please. We've got a bit of a problem over at the edaphosaur paddock…and make it snappy. Bit of a mess."

The two looked at each other, and smiled.

"Never a dull day at Prehistoric Park," Terry said.

Michael laughed, and started running back towards the park.

**Next time...**

**Michael travels to the Oligocene in order to find the largest rhinoceros that ever lived.**

Michael walks in a scrubland, alongside a wrinkly creature that looks almost like a cross between a giraffe and a hornless rhino.

**And the Dimetrodon begin Prehistoric Park's first breeding project.**

The park's two _Dimetrodon_ sniff at each other, cautiously.

**But for now, Michael and Terry are back to work at the park...having gained a new insight into the mysteries that hide in the ocean depths...**

* * *

_Well. Now that was interesting, wasn't it. Anyway, apologies again for not updating in so long. November's been a busy month, so I basically sat down yesterday and just wrote the entire second half of the episode while I had the time. Hopefully I'll have time at Christmas to write a lot more._

_Only true paleo-geeks will probably "get" the big theme throughout this episode (and you probably laughed at the time, didn't you...so did I, but I had to experiment :P), but I think it's still equally enjoyable whether you know what it is or not. Maybe even better if you're not sure. Uncertainty, the greatest fear._

_So here's the (rather short) list of what we caught today:_

**_1.2 Nothosaurus  
_****_0.1 Shonisaurus_**

_Additional animals encountered:_

**_Mixosaurus  
Indeterminate ammonite species  
Something else. Something big..._**

_And with that, I bid you all adieu...until next time..._


	5. Beast of Baluchistan

_Well, I promised myself that I'd get the next episode up before Christmas, and I have, barely :P To start with, all the reviewers pretty much nailed the identity of the mystery creature last episode. MasterPaleontologist in particular pinpointed it down, picking up on every single subtle hint I threw in. Kudos to you, good sir/madam. So, uh, if you don't want to be spoiled, don't read the reviews :P_

_Now, without further ado, I present to you Episode Five..._

* * *

**We live in a very strange world. Over ninety-nine percent of the species that ever lived on our planet are now extinct. But what if we could save them? What if we could bring them back to our own world?**

**Join biologist Michael Emerson as he travels back in time to meet animals that have never existed for millions of years. He will save them from extinction and take them into the present day to give them a second chance.**

**This time, Michael travels back 25 million years in order to rescue the largest rhino that ever walked the face of the earth.**

**Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome…to Prehistoric Park!**

The gentle glow of the sun began rising over the dunes as a new day dawned over Prehistoric Park. A soft wind blew over the beach, making the scene calm and peaceful. The only thing that really was out of the ordinary was the figure of Norman walking down to the shore, carrying a bucket in his hand and whistling cheerfully.

"Well," Norman began, "the new arrivals seem to be pretty happy right now. The nothosaurs, especially. They're right down there now, enjoying the beach and the sun." He pointed down to the waterline, where two of the nothosaurs were basking on the shore. The other was swimming around at the ocean's surface.

"I don't blame them, either," Norman continued. "I'd give anything to vacation on the beach." He chuckled, and tossed the nothosaurs a couple of fish from his bucket. "I jest, of course. Not everybody gets to hold a job like this."

He watched the nothosaurs snapping up the fish. "Michael pointed out to me those strange lumps on their undersides. I'm still not quite sure what they are. Catherine thinks they might be barnacles or something like that, but she hasn't got a good look at them yet. That's one of the things she was planning to do today, actually."

One of the nothosaurs crawled up to Norman, who tossed it another fish. "They're so curious, just like your average dog. I didn't like it at the time, but Michael was right to bring these guys back. Of course, don't ever tell him I said that," he said, and chuckled.

Norman gave the last of the fish to the nothosaurs. "Well, better get back now," he said, and walked back up the beach from where he came.

**Prehistoric Park is already home to a myriad of prehistoric creatures. A hungry herd of hadrosaurs, a noisy terror bird, a bunch of mischievous sail-backed amphibians, and a gigantic ichthyosaur are just some of them. Today, Michael is planning his next adventure – and, as always, it isn't going to be a piece of cake.**

Michael stood in the middle of a large, open savannah. In the distance, a mountain range extended up into the sky. Several large, horned animals were milling around him and grunting. A couple park rangers were standing nearby.

"These are black rhinos!" Michael began, as he walked up to one of the animals. "We have a small herd of them at the park. Normally they're solitary, but these rhinos are captive-raised, so they tend to live together. They're special, because these black rhinos are actually protected in the park. As you might know the black rhino is a critically endangered species in the wild; only a couple thousand are still living in Africa. This is almost entirely because of human poachers, who kill the rhinos for their horns. Thankfully though, this group lives in their own paddock, where they can live out their lives in peace."

He patted one of the rhinos on the back, which grunted and shook its head in satisfaction. Michael laughed. "And they're clearly happy about that!"

Michael started walking back over to his Jeep, which was parked nearby. "There are still a couple of rhino species alive today," he said, "but most of them that have existed throughout history are extinct. And some of them were _really_ big." With that, Michael got into his Jeep and drove off.

Back in his study, Michael walked over to his bookshelf. "What I'm looking for this time is one of those extinct rhinos," Michael said, "and this one is a whopper." He tossed aside a printout that read "South Africa rhino poaching: More killed than ever" and pulled out a sun bleached yellow book. A picture of a saber-toothed cat leaping upon a helpless ground sloth that was stuck in a tar pit was shown on its cover. "This was always one of my favorite books as a kid," he said. "It was written by Roy Chapman Andrews, one of the great paleontologists of the 20th century. One of the chapters focuses on his adventures while digging up a giant extinct rhino, the one I'm going to be searching for."

He flipped through the pages to a picture of a large, long-necked animal that looked rather like a lumpy giraffe. "Its name is _Paraceratherium_," Michael said, "although back then its name was _Baluchitherium_. Andrews gave it an awesome nickname – the Beast of Baluchistan. He describes it in his book." Michael cleared his throat, and read.

"'The Beast of Baluchistan lived in the Oligocene and Miocene periods, twenty to thirty million years ago. Possibly even earlier than that, his ancestors branched off from the main stem of the rhinoceros family. They formed a new branch of their own. Instead of horns for protection, they developed great size. It was hard to realize that such a huge creature ever did live. From nose to tail it measured 34 feet – longer than a school bus. At the shoulder it was 17 feet high – higher than two school buses piled one on top of the other. When the neck stretched out, its nose would have been 25 feet above the ground – nine feet higher than the tallest giraffe. A six-foot man, standing under the Beast, could hardly touch its stomach!'"

Michael closed up the book. "It's amazing stuff to think about," he acknowledged. "_Paraceratherium_ – or the Beast of Baluchistan, as he lovingly puts it – was originally found in Pakistan, but Andrews dug up some specimens in Mongolia, in the Hsanda Gol Formation. It dates to about twenty-five million years in age. And I'm going there to follow in Andrew's footsteps for my next adventure – I'll just be going back in time instead!"

He stuffed the book in his bag and left his study, stepping over a lumbering tortoise along the way.

**Michael is ready to embark into the Oligocene with his team – but first, there's one more thing left to be done…**

With a low rumble, the Jeep drove up alongside the paddock fence, where Terry and Catherine were waiting. Michael stepped out of the car and asked "How are they doing, guys?"

"Definitely better," Catherine said. "Both the male and the female are back to normal. They're a bit inquisitive towards each other too."

Behind them, the two _Dimetrodon_ lounged about in their respective enclosures. "Yeah, they look pretty good," Terry said. "We've even thought up some names for them. Scar for the male, and Sasha for the female."

Michael laughed. "Those are good! Glad to hear. Do you think though, that…they might be ready to breed soon?" he asked.

Terry nodded. "I think so," he said. "All that we'd need to start would be a go-ahead from you."

"Well, you've got it now. I'm going to put you two in charge of that project for now; I'm sure you'd do a great job. Right now, though, I'm off to the Oligocene."

"Good luck, Michael," Catherine said.

"Thanks. I'll be back with a _Paraceratherium_ – and maybe a couple other creatures as well." Michael winked. And with that, he started off to the portal.

"See you Norman!" Michael shouted as he and his team walked towards the portal. And before they could get an answer, they had stepped into the Oligocene.

The team arrived in a grove of bare, gnarly trees. Around them, the air was dry, and the landscape was peppered with grasses and rocks. Nearby, tall cliffs towered over the trees. A mountain range sat in the distance. Birds and insects buzzed in the heat.

"Well, here we are," Michael said, and put down his bag. "It's a bit drier than I expected it to be. The Oligocene was more temperate than the Eocene, but even so, it's rather desert-like in this area.

As the crew set up camp, Michael looked around at his surroundings. "It may look dry and lifeless, but that's hardly the case. All around in the grass, you can see small burrows." He kneeled down, and pointed to small holes in the ground that were scattered around the campsite. "Those were probably made by small rodents. One mouse-like rodent, _Cricetops_, made up over thirty percent of the fossils found in the Hsanda Gol!"

Michael took a swig of water. "I'm not too interested in the small stuff, though. What I'm looking for is the Beast of Baluchistan. For now I should help finish setting up."

He stood back up, but then stopped, turning his head. "Do you hear that?" he asked. From afar, there was a faint rustling sound, and grunting noises.

"Henry, tell everybody else I've gone off to look at something if they ask for me," Michael said, and headed off in the direction of the noise.

Around the bend of a cliff, Michael stopped, and kneeled down behind a bush. "There!" he whispered.

He pointed at a patch of bushes, where several creatures that looked like crosses between a horse and a primate were standing and feeding on the leaves. They had a distinctive mottled coloration. "I'm pretty sure I know what these are," Michael whispered. "They look like some sort of weird hybrid experiment, but they're not. I think they're _Chalicotherium_. Their family group is extinct by the modern day, but they were related to the horse and rhinoceros groups – though you wouldn't expect that by looking at one."

Michael watched as one of the chalicotheres raised its long, clawed arm to grasp a leafy branch. "Thankfully, _Chalicotherium_ was an herbivore, so I'm not in any danger of getting eaten or anything. I'm not too sure about those claws, though…they could do some nasty damage if they wanted to."

The chalicothere snapped the branch from the bush and brought the food to its mouth, where the leaves were slurped up by a large, purple-colored tongue. After that, it started moving towards another bush, walking on its knuckles like some gigantic deformed gorilla.

"The way they feed, it reminds me almost of animals like the giant ground sloth," Michael said. "That, and the way they move slowly. The two groups aren't related in any way, but it is a great example of convergent evolution in action. Once you find a body plan that works, I guess you tend to stick with it."

Michael watched the chalicotheres feeding for a while before moving away. "I'd love to be able to take a chalicothere or two back to Prehistoric Park at some point," he said, "but it looks like they're peaceful now, and I don't want to bother them right now. The crew's probably going to kill me when I get back – I seem to have a habit of disappearing while everybody else is setting up." He smiled, and made his way back towards camp.

**Back at the park, work is underway at the **_**Dimetrodon**_** paddocks as Terry and Catherine put their plan for breeding the two animals into action.**

Several park workers carried a wooden pole over to the paddock wall and set it down, where another group of workers picked it up and started hammering it into the ground. Terry was directing them to the proper place, occasionally glancing at a sheet of paper in his hand.

**The two **_**Dimetrodon**_** were brought back from the Permian, but not in the best condition. The male was being overly aggressive, and the female was very weak from protecting her first nest of eggs. Michael was finally able to bring them back to the present, and now they have recovered.**

"Get it down a little bit more…yep…yeah. Perfect." Terry adjusted his hat in the sunlight, and then looked up. "Progress is good so far," he said. "Basically, our plan is to make a neutral enclosure where the two _Dimetrodon_ can interact. Michael told me that back in the Permian, they were very territorial. So Catherine and I reasoned that, if we put the female into the male's enclosure, or vice versa, they would fight. Instead, we're building two walls between their paddocks. The enclosures are close together, so if we connect them with those two walls, that will basically create a third enclosure sandwiched in between, if you get what I'm saying. All we would need to do then is put a few doors in, and then the Dimetrodon can get to know each other in neutral territory – where they hopefully won't fight."

Catherine walked over from the other end of the paddocks. "How is everything going?" she asked.

"Smooth as silk," Terry replied. "We're right on schedule. I'm guessing we should be finished here within an hour or two.

"Good. I'm going to have to head back to the clinic at some point today, because the vets are supposed to be looking at the nothosaurs today. You'll be able to finish up fine?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then. I'm going to head off now then, to get the supplies in order and everything. Radio me when you introduce the two to each other," Catherine said.

"Will do." Terry watched her leave, and then turned to finish up the construction. From inside the paddock, the male _Dimetrodon_, Scar, looked out at the activity in curiosity.

**While the plan for the **_**Dimetrodon**_** is in full swing, Michael and his team are exploring the Oligocene wilderness.**

Michael led his team across the terrain as the sun beat down from above. "I have a hunch, and I hope I'm right," he said. "So far, the ground has been sloping downward. Not a lot, hardly noticeable, but it should be enough." He pointed down to the ground to make his point.

"You don't need to know much about physics to know that water always travels downwards. And that water has to go somewhere, so I'm hoping that if we travel far enough, we should be able to reach a water hole!" he exclaimed. "And water holes are a veritable magnet for wildlife. Besides, there has to be at least some water here – the chalicotheres I saw earlier have to be able to survive somehow in a place as mostly dry as this. There's a good chance that a _Paraceratherium_ would live around a water source, too."

The team continued onwards, and the ground continued sloping. Rock rose up from around them as they walked, and it didn't take long to realize that they had entered a canyon. After a while the canyon suddenly grew wider, and there seemed to be a drop-off at the end – much like a riverbed.

"This could be it!" Michael said, and started running up to look. However, as he reached the end of the canyon, his expression changed. "Oh."

The canyon did indeed hold a riverbed, and it did indeed empty into a water hole – at least, it did at one point. There was at most a foot of water contained in the bowl that used to hold a freshwater lake. The ground was dry around it.

The team caught up with Michael, who said, "That's not right. It shouldn't have gotten that low, even in this place." He looked up at the sky. "We must be in the middle of a drought or something."

"Guys, get down!" a man named Henry said, who jumped behind a rock. The others looked toward the far edge of the water hole, and followed suit when they saw what was approaching. When Michael had gotten behind a rock, he slowly peered out to look at what had come.

At the far edge of the water hole, a pack of three hunchbacked, snaggle-toothed creatures was prowling into view. They had bumpy faces and hooves on their feet, colored a dirty black. They were growling at each other.

"Are those what I think they are?" Henry asked, and Michael nodded. "They're entelodonts," he said. "But these ones are huge…I'm guessing two meters at the shoulder. They can't be anything but _Paraentelodon_, one of the largest entelodonts there is."

**Entelodonts are actually close relatives of hogs, despite their size and body structure. That's why some people have given them the lovely nickname of "terminator pigs from hell".**

The team watched as the entelodonts made their way down to the water level and started to jostle for position in order to get a drink. "They must be desperate for water," Michael observed. "I didn't realize it was this bad around here."

Suddenly, a snarl came from the other end of the water hole, and two other _Paraentelodon_ lumbered into view. The first pack raised their heads and roared at the intruders, who growled back in return. The team watched as the two groups leapt at each other's throats, snarling and biting at each other's skin. Blood started to stain the water as the entelodonts fought.

With a shrill whimper, one of the intruders fell to the ground, and then hurriedly limped off with its accomplice. Their faces and backs were shredded with red, bleeding marks. The first pack roared at the retreating animals, and then returned to the water hole to finish drinking.

Michael had been watching the spectacle with his mouth open. "That wasn't like anything I've ever seen," he finally whispered. "A determined entelodont is something you can't mess with."

One of the entelodonts raised its head, looking in the direction of the humans, and growled. "Right, I think it's best that we get away now," Michael said, moving away. "Quickly."

Following Michael, the team moved off as quietly as they could. In the nearby canyons, some shadows moved, and then started following them.

**Meanwhile in Prehistoric Park, Norman is tending to the park's largest resident.**

Norman looked through the acrylic walls, watching the _Shonisaurus_ swim about and chomp down squid. "Look at her go," he said. "Eating like there's no tomorrow."

**Michael rescued the **_**Shonisaurus**_** from the seas of Triassic Nevada, after its pod was sent into a sudden panic. Now that it lives at the park, it has been living peacefully.**

"So far, we've been giving her a diet of squid, which she seems to like," Norman said. In the wild, Michael tells me that they liked ammonites in particular. Seeing as ammonites have been extinct for sixty-five million years, well, it's a bit of a difficult dinner request. I was going to try getting some nautilus, because they're the closest thing to an ammonite today, but I haven't been able to get a hold of them yet."

The shonisaur waved its tail in satisfaction, making Norman smile. However, a burst of static from the walkie-talkie interrupted him. "Norman?" the voice said over the radio.

Norman picked it up. "Yeah?"

"We need you over at the nothosaurs, ASAP! This one's a bit feisty. Over and out!" And just like that, the voice was gone.

Norman furrowed his eyebrows, perplexed. "They're supposed to be transporting one to the clinic for Catherine to take a look at," he said. "I better get over there and see what they need me for." He hurried up the staircase to ground level.

He drove his pickup truck over to the nothosaur paddock fence, where he could hear quite a commotion coming from within. Norman hurried inside and saw the male nothosaur, surrounded by several park staff, who were trying to grab it or maneuver it into a holding truck. They weren't having much luck though, because the nothosaur was hissing and snapping at them.

"Try not to hurt it! Lead it over in the right direction!" Norman shouted, and raced back out to his truck to get something. The nothosaur continued to squirm about, preventing the staff from getting a good grip. From afar, the other animals watched with curiosity.

Norman ran back into the paddock carrying a silver bucket. "Out of the way for a minute!" he said to the staff, and stopped directly in front of the nothosaur. He reached into his bucket and waved a fish at the creature. "Look here, I've got some nice treats for you!" Norman said in a soft voice.

The nothosaur stopped squirming and looked directly at the fish. Norman started backing away into the holding truck with the fish in his hand. With a flick of its tail, the nothosaur started following him, eager for a snack.

"A little bit more…yes!" Norman said as the nothosaur got into the truck. Suddenly, his back hit cold metal. He turned around and saw that he had reached the back of the crate. The nothosaur snatched the fish out of his hand, and Norman quickly realized that he was stuck between the creature and the wall of the truck. "Oh."

The nothosaur looked up, expecting more fish to eat. Seeing no alternative, Norman dumped the bucket of fish on the floor and, while it was preoccupied with eating, tried to step around the nothosaur. He had to leap the last bit of the way, and lost his balance, rolling down the ramp and onto the beach. "I'm alright!" he quickly said, and coughed.

A couple of the staff helped him up, and as soon as the door was closed the truck drove away to the clinic. "Well, they've certainly got an attitude on them," Norman said. "Now we just have to wait and see what the biopsy says."

**Back in the Oligocene, Michael and his team are no longer in danger of being trampled by demonic pigs.**

Michael was back at the drying water hole with the rest of his team. They were in a different position now, one that made it easier to make a hasty retreat if it was needed. "Thankfully, the entelodonts have left now," Michael said, "which is a good thing. There's not much chance of finding a _Paraceratherium_ here if there are nasty predators in the same area."

A low grunting came from the lakeshore. "But I know it's safe right now, because the _Chalicotherium _have come to drink." Michael pointed down to the water, where the chalicothere herd was milling about and lowering their heads to drink. "If the entelodonts do come back, the chalicotheres will notice first, and act as a sort of early warning system for us," Michael said.

The chalicotheres continued lapping at what little water was left in the pool. It was a very peaceful scene. Abruptly, however, the chalicotheres raised their heads to look at the other end of the water hole. Michael was perplexed. "What do they see?" he asked.

Suddenly, two pointed ears appeared from over the rise that led down to the water hole, followed by a head, and a very long neck. Michael grinned as the rest of the creature came into view. "There it is!" he exclaimed. "It's the Beast of Baluchistan!"

The _Paraceratherium_ came down to the water's edge and lowered its neck to drink. "All of the creatures nearby must be congregating around here," Michael said. "If there's a drought in the air, the water here is a valuable resource. But I don't think it's going to last much longer."

Michael and the team watched the _Paraceratherium_ for a while. "How are we going to get it back to the park?" Henry asked.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure at the moment," Michael replied. "I don't think we can get any closer without scaring them away. For now I guess we just have to –"

There was a loud growl, and several giant dog-like animals leapt from the nearby ravines. They had black stripes rather like a tiger's. In an instant, they dashed across the little water left in the hole and pounced on an unsuspecting chalicothere. Immediately, the area was thrown into chaos.

"Holy –" Michael began, before scrambling over the hillside to get a better view. "They just ran right in and started slaughtering…"

The predators leapt on the back of the chalicothere, which howled in alarm and pain. It was splashing in the water, trying to fend its attackers off. The dogs bit at their prey's neck and started slashing at its belly. With a loud bellow, the _Paraceratherium_ turned tail and fled the water hole, and the rest of the chalicothere herd did the same. Instead, however, some of the herd was heading straight towards the team's location.

Michael's eyes widened momentarily and he started scrambling back up the hillside. "Stay back!" he shouted to his team. Quickly, he pulled the two portal sticks out of his back and stuck them in the ground. With a click of the remote, the portal switched on in a flare of blue and purple.

The group of _Chalicotherium_ thundered into the portal, and Michael shouted "You guys head back to the camp until you hear from me! I'll be back soon!" And then, without another word, he disappeared after the herd.

**At Prehistoric Park, Norman is about to receive an unexpected surprise…**

Norman watched as the portal buzzed, and flared into life. "That'll be Michael," he said from the walkway. "Let's see what he's bagged…"

At that moment, four of the oddest-looking creatures Norman had ever seen stampeded through the portal and down into the holding pen area. "What the blazes are _those_?" Norman shouted.

Michael then popped through the portal. "Hey, Michael!" Norman shouted to him. "Those aren't _Paraceratherium_!"

Michael caught his breath, and finally responded. "Yeah," he said. "Sorry about that."

"I'm not complaining or anything, so long as they won't have an amateur keeper as a snack," Norman chuckled. "They look pretty cool."

"Well, glad to hear that – I didn't have much of another option!"

**While Michael and Norman find a place for the new chalicotheres, Catherine is back in the clinic to look at the nothosaur.**

The nothosaur was strapped down belly-up on the table while the staff surrounded it. The lumps on its underside were in plain view. "I can see what they are now," Catherine said. "I suspected it as much, but it never hurts to check."

She gestured at one of the lumps. "They're typical epibionts, which is just a fancy term for animals that live on other animals. They look like barnacles to me, actually, but it's hard to tell considering that this type has never been recorded in the fossil record before."

Catherine adjusted the nothosaur's oxygen mask. "Thankfully, it's not parasitic," she said. "That's always a possibility when dealing with wild-caught animals, and if it was something harmful I'd probably have to remove it. But no, these barnacles are just along for the ride. So I'll leave them on. Who knows, they might even benefit the nothosaur in some way. But we should get this boy back to his paddock now."

She put her tools aside. "Alright," Catherine said, "let's take him off sedative and get him back into his enclosure." She left the room and turned a corner, where Michael was waiting. "Did you figure it out?" he asked.

"They're just barnacles," Catherine nodded. "Nothing more really."

"Good," Michael said. "That's what I expected too, but I just wanted to make sure in case it was something more serious. Anyway, once you get suited down, I think Norman has a bit of a surprise for you…"

Catherine smiled. "Okay, I'll go check in a minute."

**Now that the nothosaurs' mysterious lumps have been identified as safe, Michael is ready to head back to the Oligocene in search of the Beast of Baluchistan…**

The sun slowly dipped to the west as the afternoon went on in the scrublands. Michael had not seen any trees for a while now. "In case you're wondering about the others," he said, "they're still back at camp by the water hole. Since the water isn't going to last much longer, I'm just scouting ahead, trying to see if we can find a better place to set up. If I find a good spot I'll just radio them over."

Michael kneeled down onto the ground. "I'm not just searching aimlessly, though – I'm following _these_," he said, pointing down into the dirt. A trail of large, elephantine footprints was embedded in the ground. "There's only one creature large enough to make those tracks," Michael said, "and that's the Beast of Baluchistan! I've been following these all the way from the water hole, so I think they're from the individual we saw when the chalicotheres were attacked."

He stood up and continued walking along the trackway. "You're probably wondering what those predators were," he said. "I'm almost one hundred percent certain that they were _Hyaenodon_. Despite the name, they aren't closely related to hyenas at all. They're actually creodonts, an extinct group that's similar to the modern day order of Carnivora. They were found all around the world in the Oligocene and there were many different species. I'm not sure, but I think the species that attacked the herd was _Hyaenodon gigas_ – which, given my luck, is the largest one of course. And, to make matters even more interesting…"

Michael pointed down at the ground again, but at several smaller sets of dog-like tracks. "They seem to be following the _Paraceratherium_ as well. I'm not especially happy about that, either…"

He continued to follow the trackways across the plain.

**Unbeknownst to Michael, he's about to run into something even more worrisome…literally…**

Michael stopped at the entrance to another set of canyons. "I'm not too sure about this place," he said. "Animals can just jump on you from above here. That's certainly what the _Hyaenodon_ like to do, at least. But the tracks are still making their way through here…as long as I keep an eye out, I should be safe." And with that, he entered the canyons.

The canyon walls were especially steep and tall here. A couple trees and grasses grew out of fissures in the rock, and some branches were strewn across the rocks, but it was otherwise bare. Long shadows cast by the dipping sun spread all around the bottom of the canyons. It was eerily quiet, and Michael's footsteps echoed.

Abruptly, Michael stopped in his tracks and raised his finger. "Do you hear that?" he asked. There was a faint, low rumbling noise.

"Stay there for a moment," Michael said. "I'll be back in a second." He disappeared around a canyon corner.

There was silence. The wind blew softly down into the canyons. A bird whistled, somewhere in the distance. And there was a deep growl, followed by a chilling hiss.

Slowly, Michael backed away around the corner again. "No sudden movements," he whispered, and continued backing away. And from around the corner, the pack of _Paraentelodon_ emerged.

Michael stopped backing away, once he was at a safe distance. "They must have gotten in through another entrance," he whispered. "I didn't see their tracks. There's no way we can outrun them in here. Thankfully, they've got terrible eyesight. But I think they'll smell us soon enough…"

The lead entelodont grunted and stepped forward, scratching at the dirt with its hoof. Michael started backing away slowly again, but stepped on a branch, which broke with an echoing snap. The entelodont jerked its head up and stared straight at Michael, who mouthed something unintelligible and froze. The other two animals also looked up to find the source of the sound.

There was a nerve-wracking silence as Michael and the pack stood off to each other. Very slowly, Michael pulled the portal sticks out of his pack. "It's our only option," he whispered, barely audible.

And suddenly, Michael started poking the sticks into the ground, working as quickly as he could. The entelodonts roared, and started to charge. Michael scrambled away after setting up the second stick and pressed the remote, activating the time portal.

One by one, the three _Paraentelodon_ charged into the portal. As soon as they were all through, Michael closed the portal and sank to his feet. Then, he started laughing.

"Wow!" he gasped. "That was nail-biting. I still can't quite figure out what I just did there!" He laughed again. "Norman's going to get quite a surprise!"

Michael pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Hey guys."

"Hey Michael. What's the haps?" the voice replied from over the radio.

"It's getting late, so you may as well start heading on up. I've been following the _Paraceratherium_ tracks all day, so just follow those till you meet up with me."

"Right. Why are you breathing like that?"

Michael hadn't noticed that he was still gasping from his encounter. "Oh. That. Nothing. I'll tell you about that later." He chuckled.

"Alright. Over and out!"

Michael put the walkie-talkie away. "What a way to end the day," he said, and started making his way back up through the canyons to find a good spot for camp.

**Meanwhile in Prehistoric park, Norman is about to get a nasty surprise…**

As the portal came to life, Norman was standing nearby as usual. "That should be Michael and his giant rhino, then," he said. "Of course, knowing him, he's probably caught something entirely diffOH MY GOD!"

The three entelodonts charged through the portal, roaring and snarling. "What in the name of –" Norman began, but before he could finish he started running along the walkway to the holding pens.

A familiar Jeep drove by outside. "_Terry!_" Norman shouted.

The car stopped, and Terry stuck his head out the window. "Yeah?" he said.

"_Get over here!_"

Confused, Terry got out of the Jeep, but when he saw the creatures that had come through he started scrambling towards the holding pens. Norman scrambled down the staircase and followed him. "We've got Holding Pen 2 open!" he shouted.

The entelodonts charged into the holding pen. "Help me here!" Terry said, pushing against the wall of the pen in order to brace it. Norman followed suit. Suddenly, one of the entelodonts charged into the fence. There was a loud bang, throwing both of the men off. On the next hit, the wooden walls started to splinter, but they held. And then all was quiet in the holding pen, aside from the snorting and grunting.

Norman caught his breath. "What in the world are those things?" he asked.

"Looks like he brought back some hell pigs," Terry replied.

"Sorry?"

"It's a long story."

"Anyway…where were you heading?" Norman queried.

"Off to the _Dimetrodon_ paddocks," Terry said. "We're ready to start the first session."

"Oh, well, don't let me get in the way then," Norman said. "We're all excited for that!"

"Yeah, you had a good excuse for help this time though," Terry smiled, and made his way back to the Jeep.

**It's a tense moment at the **_**Dimetrodon**_** paddocks, as the two animals are about to come face to face once more…**

Terry pulled up at the paddocks, and hopped out of the car. "Are we ready?" he asked. The staff nodded in return. Inside, Scar and Sasha the two _Dimetrodon_ were lounging around as they normally did.

"Open 'em up, then," Terry said, and stood back to watch.

Two ropes were pulled, and the doors leading into the neutral enclosure slid open. Immediately, Scar scurried over to investigate, sniffing at the door. Then, it entered. Sasha also went over, but was more cautious, not immediately going inside.

"Michael told me that these two had a bit of a grudge against each other," Terry whispered. "Let's just hope that they can put aside their differences and be nice to each other."

The two animals stepped toward each other. They sniffed each other's faces, and Sasha gave a low growl. Terry leaned forward, ready to separate the two in case things got out of hand. But a growl was all that happened.

"They're not attacking each other," Terry whispered. "That's good."

The _Dimetrodon_ contemplated each other for another minute, and then Sasha turned around and went back into her own paddock. Her door was closed. Eventually, Scar stopped milling about and did the same.

"So far, so good," Terry said. "They don't seem to be angry towards one another anymore. It was a good first session. The sun is setting now, and they'll be going to sleep soon, so I think that's all we can do for the day. Tomorrow, we'll try it again and see if things improve."

Terry got back into his Jeep and drove away as the staff finished packing up at the paddocks.

**The next morning, Michael and the team are ready to continue their search for the elusive **_**Paraceratherium**_**.**

The zipper of a tent opened, and Michael crawled out, yawning. "Geez," he muttered. "I'm still exhausted from yesterday. That entelodont catch is something I'll be bragging about for a while," he said. "But we've got to go find the Beast of Baluchistan today. First, though…breakfast."

Michael pulled out a box of dry cereal and a plastic bowl. "We're in the depths of Mongolia, tens of millions of years before humans will evolve, and that means we don't have any milk for our morning cereal," he said, pouring his cornflakes into a bowl. "I guess that's a price you have to pay!"

He chuckled. "I suppose I could use water instead…but that would be a bad idea." He looked around at the campsite. "We're on another plain now, a couple miles from the water hole. All around us, everything is dry. I suspect the search for water is why all the animals like the Beast of Baluchistan are on the move right now."

Michael picked up his water bottle, which was almost empty. "With no water around, we can't fill up our own supplies, either. We can always take water back and forth from the park, but that would be tedious and I'd like to avoid it if possible. So we should finish up here as soon as we can. That means we need to find the _Paraceratherium_ today."

**Before Michael sets off, however, it seems he needs to look at some smaller fauna in the area as well.**

A couple minutes later, Michael was kneeling down in the grass, waving his hand. "Over here!" he mouthed.

Ahead of him, a mammal about the size of a fox was walking around in the grass. It had a short snout and pointy ears. "That's a bear dog," Michael whispered. "They got the name from looking like a little bit of both animals. They've only just evolved right now – it could be the _Cynodictis_ species, but I'm not sure. Looks like it's hunting."

The bear dog froze in the grass, and turned its head. It stayed in this position for a couple moments before leaping on something unseen. Something in the grass hopped away in response. Michael peered over to see that the bear dog was trying to catch small toads.

Michael smiled. "I've heard about those in the literature," he said. "When I was researching this trip I found out that the Hsanda Gol sported amphibian fauna. I'd love to take a couple back to the park, but I think the toads already in my study wouldn't appreciate the company. And Norman probably isn't the happiest man right now, either," he smirked.

"The fact that the toads are here is good news, actually. Modern day desert toads can survive long periods without water, but it doesn't seem unreasonable that there would be a water source nearby here. They look pretty healthy, so –"

There was a loud growl, and the bear dog scampered away. "Michael!" a voice hissed from camp. Michael got himself up, and then stopped in his tracks when he saw what the matter was.

A _Hyaenodon_ snarled, and started circling the campsite. The others were nearby. Apparently, the pack had snuck up on them. The crew had grabbed sticks or supplies that were at hand and started waving them at the creatures, trying to fend them off.

With a low grumble, most of the pack started to slink away. They had been caught off guard by the team's retaliation, and now without the element of surprise the hunt was probably not worth it.

But the particularly aggressive _Hyaenodon_ continued to linger around the tents. It snarled again, and started trotting towards the campsite again. "Hey!" Michael yelled, and picked up a rock, throwing it at the creature. It landed square in the forehead, and the _Hyaenodon_ roared and finally started to back away. With a single leap, it had disappeared.

"Everyone okay?" Michael asked, and the crew nodded. "I'm pretty sure that was one of the alphas of the pack," he said. "Apparently they must have slipped in, circled back or something without us noticing. I'm afraid that they'll still try to follow the _Paraceratherium_, though. We'd better get out there and find it before they do."

Michael went to retrieve his bag and prepare for the journey ahead.

**Back at the park, Norman is arriving by the **_**Dimetrodon**_** paddocks, where the anticipated second session is about to begin.**

Norman drove up his pickup truck into the _Dimetrodon_ area. Ned the nodosaur tagged along behind. Norman got out and saw Terry and Catherine waiting by the paddock fence. "How are we doing over here?" he asked them.

"Fine," Catherine said. "We're just about to start a second try now."

"Ready when you are," Terry shouted to the staff, and the doors to the neutral paddock. Again, Scar was the first to enter, sniffing around and investigating. Sasha, however, did not make a move towards the doors. Instead, she remained in her paddock and gave a barking call.

The three watched in fascination while Ned entertained himself by snacking on a nearby shrub. "That's new," Terry whispered. "I wonder if she's signaling for the male."

Cautiously, Scar stepped towards to door to Sasha's paddock. Then, he slipped inside. Several of the staff stepped forward, ready to make a move in case things got dicey. But instead, Sasha stopped calling, and simply looked at the male instead. Scar approached her, and the two animals sniffed each other like they did the previous day. Terry, Catherine, and Norman continued to watch.

And then, Scar just lay down next to Sasha, who acknowledged him with a hiss. The two _Dimetrodon _basked together in the morning sun. "Do you think it's alright to just leave the doors open by now?" Catherine asked.

"It should be," Terry replied. "I think we might even be able to keep them in a single paddock together. Far better than what I expected. What do you think, Norman?"

"Well, the fewer paddocks to clean, the better," Norman chuckled. "Anyway, I have to be off now to visit the _Ambulocetus_. Hope everything goes well from here," he said, and departed back to his truck. "Come on Ned!"

**In the Oligocene, Michael is finally about to find what he's come for. **

Michael led the team across the desert. "We lost track of the _Hyaenodon_ footprints a while ago," Michael explained, "which I find a bit unnerving. But the good news is that the footprints of the _Paraceratherium_ are still in clear view. And they seem to be fresher, too…"

A few minutes later, Michael stopped to look at the horizon. "You see that speck there?" he pointed out to his team. In the distance, something was walking along the dry fields. And it looked big.

Michael started jogging towards it, and his team followed behind trying to keep up the pace. "I think this may be it!" he said.

Soon, Michael slowed down, finally stopping behind the animal. He was grinning. "Here it is," he breathed. "The Beast of Baluchistan."

The _Paraceratherium_ was walking across the desert, leaving a trail of dusty footprints in its wake. It made no noise and made no sign that it acknowledged the team, but it just continued traveling on its way. "It doesn't look quite fully grown yet, although it's close," Michael said. "I think it's a subadult male."

Michael started walking alongside the giant rhino. There was a wide smile painted on his face. The _Paraceratherium_ turned its head to look at Michael, and then continued to walk along.

"It's hardly paying any attention to me at all," Michael noted. "It must be pretty determined for water."

**Michael's right. But when that finally happens, the picture looks bleak.**

After a while, the _Paraceratherium_ stopped and lowered its neck. It pawed at the ground. Michael peered over to investigate. "Looks like it's found a trickle of water," he whispered.

He was indeed right, but in more ways than one. The trickle was meager at most, and with a few licks of its tongue, the _Paraceratherium_ had drunk it all. Then, it continued walking along. "I feel sorry for it," Michael said. "You can see for miles out here in the sun, and I don't see any water holes at all. He'll be lucky if he finds a decent water source in a week. If we don't take him back to the park, he'll probably die."

Michael watched the _Paraceratherium_ trudging along. "We've got to save him somehow."

Michael and his team continued to follow the rhino, as the sun continued to beat down upon the exposed desert.

**But things are about to get a lot worse for the **_**Paraceratherium**_** and the team…**

From behind the team, several animals appeared on the horizon. They were moving at a steady pace.

Later, the _Paraceratherium_ stopped walking. It stood still, waving its tail back and forth. "He's probably getting tired now," Michael said. "Probably the dehydration is becoming too much for him. The heat just sucks all the moisture right out of you. I know that I feel a bit light-headed right now."

Michael stepped a bit closer to the beast, which lowered his head and snorted at him. "Easy," Michael said softly. "Easy there." The _Paraceratherium_ then started sniffing him instead.

"Right," Michael said. "We'd better get the portal ready and send him through."

But before he could act, someone said "Michael! Over there!" Michael looked off in the distance from where they had already come, and got a shock.

The pack of _Hyaenodon_ was running towards them, snarling all the way, and they were getting very close. Noticing that something was wrong, the _Paraceratherium_ turned its head and bellowed when it saw the oncoming pack. Then, it started to stampede away.

Within seconds, however, the pack was upon it, leaping on its back and trying to trip it up. The rhino bellowed again and shook the _Hyaenodon_ off. Another of the predators tried to menace the team, but it was quickly driven off with the aid of a large stick.

Michael scrambled to set up the time portal. "Got to make this work!" he shouted to nobody in particular, and activated the portal, bringing to life. "Hey, come on, over here!" he shouted to the _Paraceratherium_, waving his arms.

As if hearing his words, the _Paraceratherium_ started to fight back, kicking at the attacking _Hyaenodon_ and trying to stomp on them as they dashed around under him. After pushing aside another carnivore, it started to stampede towards Michael, and then finally dashed into the portal.

"Yes!" Michael pumped his fist into the air, before realizing that the pack of _Hyaenodon_ had just lost its prey and was now eyeing the humans."Whoops. Um…_run_!"

The team made their escape through the portal, and Michael was the last in line as the pack started to chase them. Right before Michael ran in and the portal closed, he felt a tearing at his shirt as a large paw swiped at him. "Oh my –"

**At Prehistoric Park, the largest land mammal to ever walk the earth is about to arrive back into the present day.**

Norman stood by to watch Michael come through with his catch. "This should be it!" he said.

And then, with a loud bellow, the _Paraceratherium_ ran through the portal. "Wow!" Norman said. "Look at the size of it!"

As Norman stood and watched in awe, the team emerged as well, Michael bringing up the rear. He half-sprinted, half-stumbled through as the portal closed directly behind him. "– god!...Whoof!" he said, trying to catch his breath.

"Get it into Holding Pen 5, will you?" Norman shouted to the staff. "You alright, Michael?"

Michael gasped. "Yeah," he said. "Almost became lunch to a pack of giant dog-things, but other than that I'm pretty okay." He started to make his way back towards the team.

"Well, glad to have you back in that case," Norman said. "Um…why is your shirt torn open?"

Michael gave Norman a confused look before his expression changed. "Oh. That."

**Once Michael has changed his shirt, everything is back to normal at the park. But there's still a couple more things that need to be taken care of…**

Michael drove up to the _Dimetrodon_ paddocks in a brand new shirt. Terry and Catherine were there, waiting for him. "Hey Michael," Terry said. "Did you get one?"

"Oh, just wait and see, Terry. He's a beauty!" Michael exclaimed. "How are these two doing?"

"Excellent," Catherine said immediately. "We tried two sessions with them, and by now we can keep the doors open all the time without them being hostile at all." She looked into Sasha's paddock, where both _Dimetrodon_ were sitting on a rock in the middle of the marsh.

"That's fabulous," Michael said.

"I was thinking we could put them into the same paddock now, since they seem to be doing well together," Terry said.

"That's probably a good idea," Michael nodded. "Tell the construction staff about it when you get a chance."

**All there is left to do is put the new arrivals into their paddocks.**

Michael met up with Norman and Ned by the black rhino paddock. "Hello Ned!" Michael said, patting the nodosaur on the head. "Where'd you end up putting the _Paraentelodon_, Norman?"

"There's a paddock I had in reserve near here," Norman said. "It has both grassy and mountain areas, but I think it should be alright."

Michael nodded. "Norman and I have agreed that both the chalicotheres and the _Paraceratherium_ can go into the same paddock, seeing as they won't hurt each other. We had a little discussion and decided that we would out them in with our black rhinos. The holding trucks are right over there now!"

Several staff workers unlocked the backs of the trucks and opened the doors. One by one, the four chalicotheres entered the paddock, causing the rhinos to raise their heads and look at their new neighbors. And finally, the _Paraceratherium_ walked into the enclosure.

"Catherine had a look at him," Norman explained. "He was dehydrated when he got here, but she's been giving him a couple of drinks and now he's back to normal."

"Excellent," Michael said, and watched the black rhinos come to investigate their ancient cousin. "Look at that!"

The two watched as the modern day animals interacted with the prehistoric ones. "There's a reason we chose the black rhino paddock to house them," Michael said. "Because the Beast of Baluchistan is just a giant hornless rhino, we just thought it would be fitting, you know? I couldn't be happier with it."

The _Paraceratherium_ gave forth a happy bellow, and moved forward to enjoy its new home in the safety of the present.

**Next time...**

**Michael and Terry travel to the Cretaceous of Madagascar in order to find some of the oddest dinosaurs to ever live.**

A snaggle-toothed dinosaur stands by the river and grabs a leaping fish from out of the air.

**And Prehistoric Park's fences undergo a routine inspection.**

A bellowing sauropod smashes through the walls of a holding pen.

**But today, Michael can be satisfied in knowing that the famed Beast of Baluchistan walks the earth once more.**

* * *

_And so it ends. Do the teasers of Episode Six get you hyped or WHAT? :P Zane, as you'll probably have gathered from this, my idea for the next episode is already set in stone, but you've got it half right, as you can also probably tell. :)_

_It doesn't take a scientific doctorate to realize that I loosely based this one off of the corresponding Walking with Beasts episode. I've done this for a lot of the episodes so far, but I've tried to be original and not just copy them. Let me know if you think it works or not. Also, I had a lot of trouble trying to figure out exactly where this episode would be set. Usually I try to base it off an existing fossil site or geologic formation (Navesink Formation, Messel Shale, Texas Red Beds, and the Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park for the previous episodes for those who may be interested) but I simply could not find anything for Oligocene Mongolia. Eventually I had to rewatch the WWB episode and read the companion book to hear of the Hsanda Gol Formation. But I think it was worth it :)_

_Anyway, enough gibbering and messing with the word count._

_**1.3 Chalicotherium  
1.2 Paraentelodon  
1.0 Paraceratherium**_

_Additional animals encountered:_

_**Hyaenodon  
Cynodictis (bear dog)  
Macropelobates (spadefoot toad)**_

_QUICK UPDATE: I haven't had a lot of time to do the next episode so far...New Year was a futile dream I guess, heh. The new plan is to have it up sometime this month. Thanks for keeping up with the story and putting up with me though :P_


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